In Time
by Forrester96
Summary: A Time Stuck AU with a twist. Set after NWHS, what if Dipper and Mabel both stuck in the past but were separated? Mabel struggled to find her way to his brother and Dipper struggled to search for someone that can repair the tape measure device. Soon, the twins will learned the true story of their Great-Uncle's life.
1. Prologue

**Well, Time Stuck AU is one of the best AU ever created, and then saisai-chan from tumblr pitched an idea where Dipper and Mabel were both stuck in the past but separated in that timeline. I guess that I like to take a shot in making this fanfic. So here goes my first fanfic! Hope you enjoy the Prologue.**

 **ideas are from** **saisai-chan! Give her credit for the amazing Timetrapped AU!**

* * *

Mabel was in the room that night, after all the things that have happened today, she was glad that Grunkle Stan was reunited with his brother back, even though not as pleasant as she thought it would be. Suddenly, Dipper stormed the room angrily and slammed the door, making Mabel flinched for a second.

"Mabel, I can't believe that you didn't listen to me when I told you to hit the failsafe button for the portal today," Dipper muttered with a hard edge to his voice.

Mabel stared back at him, shocked at what she was hearing.

"What are you saying Dipper? It all worked out, and now we have Great Uncle Ford back! You have the Author! Isn't that what you've wanted all summer?"

Her twin turned to face her. "Well yeah, but that's not the point! You're my sister, Mabel! We're supposed to be able to trust each other!"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this, Dipper!" she cried in a hushed shout, not wanting to betray their fight to anyone downstairs. "I had to help Grunkle Stan! He loves us and I trusted him!"

"But you should've trusted ME!"

Dipper stormed around the room and collecting various objects.

"Do you know how much effort I've gone to in order to help YOU this summer?" he raged. Holding up a sock puppet, he accused, "I was possessed by a DEMON because I was so busy trying to help you finish up a stupid puppet show!"

Throwing aside the puppet, he held up a broken pool whistle. "I got fired from being a lifeguard because YOU had to help out a stupid crush!"

"Dipper, I–"

"And," he interrupted, holding up Blendin's tape measure, "we had to ruin everything I had worked for with Wendy just so you could win a stupid pig!"

A seething silence followed.

"Well, Dipper," Mabel huffed, taking a step forward, "I'm so SORRY to have ruined your entire summer! Let me just help you get rid of all these terrible reminders!"

Mabel lunged for and snagged the puppet and whistle, throwing open the triangular window and hurling them out of it. Spinning around, she dove for the tape measure.

"I can't believe you're mad at me for doing the right thing! I'm just trying to do what's right" she shouted, trying to wrestle the tape measure from Dipper's grip.

"Mabel, stop, you'll break it!" her twin yelped with alarm.

"GOOD! Just like I apparently break everything!"

She snagged it from his grasp and ran to the window to toss it, but just as she was about to she heard a sickening snap.

To her horror, she looked up in time to see the tape reeling back towards her.

"Oh no, MABEL NO!" Dipper jumped at Mabel as soon as the tape reeling back towards her, and suddenly everything was much too bright, she felt Dipper hugged her and she felt both of them falling back, and everything was gone in front of her eyes.

* * *

Mabel tripped, skinning her knee on the hard cement. She got off the ground and dusted herself off. She looked around… whenever she was, it was nighttime.

She was in an alley between a couple of brick buildings. Past the sidewalk outside, she could faintly see the glow of neon light.

"Dipper?" Mabel called and looked around her to see where her brother had gone. "Dipper where are you?" She remembered the tape measure.

The last time she was holding it. She started to look for the tape measure, but nowhere to be found. Mabel started to panic.

Dipper was nowhere near her, and the tape measure is nowhere to be found. A tears began to flow as she realized her horrible fate;

She was stuck.

* * *

Dipper fell onto a snowy road, hitting his face into the cold snow. The tape measure slipped out of her hands and clattered on the ground. He got off the ground and looked around… he was in the forest, and it was snowing.

Dipper looked around for his sister, wherever she was.

"Mabel? Mabel?" He called her sister around him and there was no answer. Dipper started to worry where his sister ended up. He walked around and stumble upon the tape measure.

The tape measure was lying on the snowy ground, its case cracked open. Complex-looking circuitry was visible inside.

Pieces of it littered the ground in front of her, and even if Dipper didn't know how all the parts fit together he saw cracked glass and twisted metal and knew that couldn't be good.

"Oh no….no, no, no, no, no!" He picked up the tape measure and inspect the damage, it was beyond his "screwdriver repair".

Even the device was still functional, he couldn't go back to 2012 without Mabel.

He looked around and saw in distant; a house. He needed to get to that house immediately as he couldn't stand the cold and his body started to shiver.

Dipper started to walk to the house in hope for someone… that believe him would help him to find his sister and repair the tape measure.

He needed to try.

* * *

 **Pretty short huh? Yeah, the Dipper part was pretty 'meh' but hey, its a start.**

 **Review please! It would be highly appreciated.**


	2. A Familiar Faces

**Second chapter! Thanks for following my first story and favorite it! Still no reviews though *sadface* I hope you guys are still eager to wait on how this story would progress. I will try to update it in my free time, but in the mean time lets get on with the story.**

* * *

Mabel walked down the alley trying to exit it. Her eyes was still watery, she wiped it several times not to show suspicious to anyone. She need to know if she was still in Gravity Falls or somewhere near the town.

She needed to find out what year she had stumbled upon. She exited the alley saw a couple of shops still open for business. Slowly, Mabel started walking towards the shop across the street.

Nearing one convenience shop, she noticed a newspaper vending machine at the sideway.

Mabel approached the vending machine and what she saw horrified her.

"PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER"

Mabel started to hyperventilate. She could not breathe normally thinking that she was far away from Oregon, from Gravity Falls.

Teary eyes started to flow again and she found herself sitting and crying on the curb.

"Dipper, where are you?" she whispered to herself. "I'm scared Dipper, I need you. I'm sorry Dipper" Mabel buried her head into her arms.

She was alone and she helpless.

* * *

Struggling to walk in the snow towards the house he saw earlier, Dipper still worried about Mabel.

 _Where would she gone? She was supposed to be with me during the time jump. How can we be separated? If isn't for that stupid argument-_

Then it hit Dipper, the guilt started to run down his entire body. It was his fault that they ended up in the past. It was him that started all that nonsense argument and ended up separated in this timeline.

"Oh no, Mabel. I'm so sorry" Dipper whispered to himself. His eyes began blurring, tears filled his eyes thinking where her sister gone.

Was she ended up was past the timeline he was on now? How could he save her? The questions began to flood his mind.

Dipper found himself nearing the house. His jaw dropped when he saw that it was not just a house; it was a shack, a Mystery Shack. The difference is there was no sign on the roof, only a bunch of antennas and radio dish. It looks like an ordinary shack in the woods.

"No way." Dipper murmured. He climbed the porch and approached the door. He held out his hand to knock it three times. There was no answer. Dipper knocked it several more times and finally he heard a voice coming from inside.

"Yeah, yeah, just a minutes!" a vaguely but familiar voice yelling at him to wait. Dipper heard the door being unlocked and slowly it was opened. "Can I help you?" the man asked Dipper. He saw the boy stuttering and his face was in utter shock.

"Hey, are you alright?" the man asked the boy. "Y-yo-you are St-Stanford Pines-"Dipper couldn't get any word out seeing the man.

It was Stanford Pines, his long lost twin Great-Uncle that Grunkle Stan just saved from the portal a few hours ago, but that few hours ago was in the future.

Dipper couldn't process what he saw in front of him and started to feel lightness in his head. The next thing he knew he was on the floor, blacked out.

* * *

"Hey, kid. You okay?" a gruff voice startled Mabel. She was still sobbing and crying on the curb she sat. She lift her head up and saw a very familiar face. Mabel's eyes widened.

The man knelt to her eye level, and Mabel saw the face clearly. He has a large nose, a dark mullet hair and his chin was full of stubble. Her hand started to tremble.

She knew who he was; it was her Grunkle Stan, a young Stanley Pines.

Without any words, Mabel hugged him and that shocked the man.

Stan gave her a reassuring pat at the back of the girl. He was still confused by the little girl's action. She must have lost or ran away from home. Stan pulled her from the hug and gently ask the little girl.

"Are you lost or something? Where's your family?"

"I-I- My brother-he-he's somewhere, but I-could not find him" Mabel tried to answer him even though she was still sobbing. She could not breathe right at all.

Mabel felt a sudden tingly trace on her palm, it was Stan's finger that was tracing a square.

"Listen to my voice kid, when I trace up I want you to breathe in, okay? Don't let it out until I trace down. Just keep that up. Up in; down, out. Come on, you can do this, kid"

Mabel nodded and started to follow his trace. Trace up; breathe in, trace down; breathe out.

A few minutes passed, she started to breathe slowly and finally breathe normally. "There you go, kid" Stan gave he a reassuring smile while holding a hand a little tighter.

He didn't even think why he would trouble himself by helping this unknown kid, but he felt that it was a right thing to do.

Suddenly Mabel wrapped her arms around him, she hugged Stan the second time, and he return the gesture. "Hey, its okay, everything's fine now" Stan reassured her. "I'm glad that I found you" Mabel mumbled into his shoulder.

Stan wasn't sure what that means, but he felt a sudden warmth in the hugged, and he felt that somehow, he had known this girl for a long time.

* * *

 **Still a very short chapter. I know, I know but I promise the next few chapter will be pretty long and there will be a few twists here and there.**

 **XI LPH CTKTG BTPCI ID QT AXZT IWXH**


	3. Call Me Stan

**I'm burning up with lots of ideas today! Here's chapter three which focusing on Mabel and Stan. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"So kid, where are you from?" Stan asked Mabel as they walked to the parking lot. Mabel was startled by that question. She couldn't tell him where she was from, could she tell him that she was his great-niece from the future? Would he believe her? Mabel couldn't take that chances. "I'm from… far away from here actually." Mabel hesitantly told him. "Someplace that I can't go."

Stan raised an eyebrow. Clothes too new, hair washed but her legs were scraped and bruised. She definitely didn't tell him the truth, but Stan let it slide.

"Someplace you can't go…" Stan repeated. "Yeah, it's kinda hard to explain, super hard." Mabel told him.

"Alright, alright, now the important thing is, what happened to you and your brother? Did he leave you alone here or what? Did you guys have a fight? Because I don't want your brother to brand me for kidnapping you." Stan muttered. He was worried that maybe her brother left her there for a while to go get something and he accidentally "kidnapped" her sister.

"No, No! It's not something like that." Mabel immediately responded to Stan. "As I said, it's super hard to explain my situation. You don't have to worry about my brother though, he knows how to find me later." Mabel looked at Stan, cracking a smile on her tip of her mouth. _"There's no way Dipper know where I am right now."_ Mabel thought, slightly her smile became a frown.

Stan was unsure whether to take her or to leave her there. He wasn't that cold to leave a child alone in the middle of nowhere. "Alright kid, listen. If you telling me that your brother can find you later, what would you wanna-" before Stan finished his question, Mabel jumped in eagerly "OOHHH! Take me with you! Take me with you whenever you go! Please, I don't wanna be alone here. Please, please." Mabel pleaded Stan. He looked her in the eyes, the glittery, shiny brown eyes, how could he reject that kind of plead? " _Darn it Stan what have you gotten yourself into this time?_ " Stan thought to himself.

Stan sighed, "Fine, I have a place to sleep tonight, at least for the night… If you want-" Mabel leaped to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Thank you thank you thank you! Thank you so much Gru- wait, what's your name?" Mabel asked, she couldn't let him know that she knows him.

"You do like to hug do you?" Stan chuckled and gently pulled her away from his waist. "Among these days I'm Roger Bett." Mabel snorted, "What a dumb name." She rolled her eyes.

Stan frowned. "Hey, I thought about that name for a pretty long time you know? But… You're right though, it's kinda dumb. Tell you what, call me Stan. What's your name little girl?" Stan asked her.

"Mabel! My name is Mabel." She told Stan with a wide grin. "Can I call you Uncle Stan?" Mabel asked hopefully.

"Sure, whatever you wanna call me." Said Stan while searching his jacket's pocket for the car key.

Mabel saw the car they were heading. She knew well that car, 'El Diablo', as Grunkle Stan used to tell her, except this time the car was much shinier and… there were a lot of junk in the backseat.

"Here it is, the 'El Diablo', that's what I called her." Stan told Mabel as he reached the key to the door to unlock the car. "You can ride shotgun today, because the backseat…. Well…" Stan looked at the backseat, it was literally full of his failed sales products, clothes and bunch of flyers. The car has been his home for the last 10 years after he was being kicked out. This is where he sleeps and this is where he eat. Stan grimaced for a while remembering it, but that's his life now. He can't do anything except move forward.

Mabel pulled open the passenger door and jumped onto the seat. Her leg was kicking happily while putting on the seatbelt and she lead out a happy humming. Stan enter the driver's side, put the key into ignition and started the car. The car revved and sped away into the main road.

Mabel looked at the back of the car, looking for something. "Say, Uncle Stan, you don't happen to have any balls of yarn for knitting or something that I can draw?" Mabel asked Stan. Stan looked at her through the rear view mirror. "Funny you should asked that, I got something like that in the box somewhere. I'll look for it after we reach the motel." Stan told her. Mabel grinned and returned to the front seat.

* * *

Half an hour later, they arrived at the motel. "Alright Mabel, here we are. Now let's get you…" Stan looked at Mabel, she was dead asleep besides her. Stan let out a grinning sigh. He got out of his car to get to the passenger side, opened the door and lift Mabel up. Stan locked the car and slowly approached the motel room where he was staying. Slowly, he twisted the door knob and pushed the door slowly.

Luckily, the room he was in have two separate bed, so he put Mabel on the bed across him and tucked her in.

"Goodnight kiddo." Stan murmured while returning to his own side of bed.

He thought about the little girl. Should he send her to the police station? No, that would be a bad idea. He was wanted by the police and there is no way he would step near the station. Should he send Mabel to the children's welfare? It would be a good thing for her but… He thought that, he's liking this kid, there was some connection that he felt between them, like a family.

Stan's eyes betrayed his mind, slowly closing in. He was tired and sleepy. He could get some rest after two days of staying awake at night.

It was a long and weird night for him indeed.

* * *

 **On the next chapter; will Dipper earned Ford's trust and believe him? Would Ford tolerate with this strange child that claimed he was from the future? Stay tune!**

 **Review please! Mabel would be highly appreciated.**

 **KYV WLKLIV NZCC TYREXV.**


	4. Reason to Believe

**I need sleep. Its been killing me. Hope you guys enjoy reading it!**

* * *

 _"Mabel, I can't believe that you didn't listen to me when I told you to hit the failsafe button for the portal today,"_

 _"What are you saying Dipper? It all worked out, and now we have Great Uncle Ford back! You have the Author! Isn't that what you've wanted all summer?"_

 _"Well yeah, but that's not the point! You're my sister, Mabel! We're supposed to be able to trust each other!"_

 _"I can't believe I'm hearing this, Dipper! I had to help Grunkle Stan! He loves us and I trusted him!"_

 _"But you should've trusted ME!"_

 _"Do you know how much effort I've gone to in order to help YOU this summer? I was possessed by a DEMON because I was so busy trying to help you finish up a stupid puppet show!_ _I got fired from being a lifeguard because YOU had to help out a stupid crush!"_

 _"Dipper, I–"_

 _"And we had to ruin everything I had worked for with Wendy just so you could win a stupid pig!"_

 _"Well, Dipper, I'm so SORRY to have ruined your entire summer! Let me just help you get rid of all these terrible reminders!_ _I can't believe you're mad at me for doing the right thing! I'm just trying to do what's right"_

 _"Mabel, stop, you'll break it!"_

 _"GOOD! Just like I apparently break everything!"_

 _*snap*_

 _"Oh no, MABEL NO!"_

* * *

"MABEL!" Dipper jolted up. He screeched as he flew upright, throwing off a blanket in the process. Dipper's chest was heaving as he struggled to figure out where he was.

Stanford came running into the living room where Dipper was. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked the boy who was still panting. Ford wasn't sure how he knows him but there was something awfully suspicious about the boy.

"I'm… fine. I guess." Dipper slowly told Ford. He jumped out of the couch and brushed himself off. He checked his vest for the… Oh no, the Journal. Where is it? Dipper started to panic. He looked around the living room hoping to see the red book. If he lose the book, Great Uncle Ford will surely kill him.

"Looking for this?" Ford asked Dipper. A sudden cold sweat trickled on his face. Slowly, he turned to where Ford was standing and looked at what he's holding; Journal #3.

Dipper gulped when he saw Ford was picking up something from behind the couch. It was a crossbow. "Now, you better start explaining how the heck you got your hand on this Journal. How did you know my name? How did you know where I lived here?" Ford started to aim the crossbow towards Dipper. His cold sweat and shivering won't help him. He gather his courage and voice to tell Ford who he is and where he came from. " _God I hope he believe me"_ Dipper thought to himself.

"Now, the things I'm about to tell you is going to sound crazy. But please, you need to believe me." Dipper reassured Ford as he saw the man's face was lacking emotion and he looks like hell. The man must have not slept for a while now judging by the eye bags on his eyes.

Ford scoffed. "Kid, I've been through enough crazy things in my life. Whatever it is I'll believe."

"Alright, my name is Dipper. I'm from the future, from the year 2012 specifically. I was with my sister while travelling back in time but somehow we got separated. Now, all I have is this time machine device and my journal that you're holding right now." Dipper took out the tape measure from his vest and showed it to him.

Intrigued, Ford slowly lay down his bow and approached Dipper. He picked it up and looked at the tape measure which is surprisingly, not an ordinary tape measure. The content inside the device was very complex and he wasn't even sure he knew half of its components.

"Where did you get this from?" Ford asked. He wouldn't believe that a simple tape measure like this would house a very complex time travel device.

"I…. someone gave it to me. We made a deal-" Ford suddenly holstered up the bow, aiming to him. "Who is this 'someone'? TELL ME!" Dipper froze at the sudden change. Seconds ago, he saw Ford somehow began to trust him and now when he told about the tape's origin, Ford somehow lost his mind.

 _"What's with Ford? I'm just gonna tell that Blendin gave me as we made a deal-wait a minute."_ Dipper suddenly realized something, but it's impossible! He couldn't have known. But in the journal there was a note about… Bill Cipher. He must have though Bill is the one who gave me the tape!

"Please, Ford, whatever you thinking right now, I assure you, it was not Bill." Dipper told him boldly. Ford cocked an eyebrow after hearing that name. _Bill,_ the demon that he once thought as a friend, and the one that he thought he could trust.

"Tell me how you knew Bill?!" Ford persuaded. "He's been terrorizing me and my sister in the future! How can you not know him? He possessed me by taking over my body and he also tried to take over my great-uncle's mind! That is a heck of a way not knowing him." Dipper's voice started to rise as he explain to Ford. He was still holding back the truth about his true self. He couldn't tell Ford the whole thing as it would jeopardize the timeline.

Dipper sighed, "Look, I'm here just to ask for your help. My great-uncle knows you and I hope that by coming to you, I might have some hope in trying to repair this device."

"And who is your great-uncle? How did he know me? As far as I know, I've never met anyone in this town."

Dipper's eyes widened. _Idiot! You surely didn't know how to shut up didn't you Dipper?_ The damage has been done, he couldn't spin the story anymore. He took a deep breath and ready to tell him.

"My great-uncle goes by the name Stanley Pines." Dipper told Ford while looking straight in his eyes. "My name is Dipper Pines, I'm your great-nephew. My sister, twin sister, Mabel, was separated during our travel into this timeline. We… sorta having a heated argument before we came here. It was an accident, all of this. We shouldn't have meant to be back here. It's all my fault." Dipper frowned, his eyes started to fixate on the floor.

Ford was taken aback by his words. Sudden flashes of memories came back into his mind. Argument with Stan about his sabotaged project, Stan being kicked out of his house, never tried to contact him for the past ten years, it haunts him sometimes. The big project he prioritize more than his family, the things he had done, the deal he had done…

He put away his bow, and knelt down to Dipper's eye level. "Look, Dipper. I don't know if I can fix this. I'll try, but it may take a while though." Stan lay his hand on Dipper's shoulder. "I'm sorry for that kind of welcome, I guess I have been through a lot lately, with sorts of things, my project, my… Say, you hungry? I got sandwiches I've made this morning." Ford asked Dipper whether he's hungry or not.

Dipper smiled. "Yeah! Sure Great Uncle Ford." The bright face on Dipper's face made Ford cracked a smile on the end of his mouth.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get us something to eat. We can talk more in the kitchen. And Dipper, here's the journal. I got mine already." Ford handed Dipper the Journal. Dipper took it and placed it in his vest. "Thanks Great Uncle Ford.

They both went into the kitchen to get something to bite. Dipper sat down on at the table and Ford took out the sandwiches and two cans of Pitt Cola from the fridge. He gave a slice and a can of Pitt Cola to Dipper and continued to sit at the other side of the table.

"So, Dipper. Tell me about the future." Ford asked while taking a bite on the sandwiches.

 _"Should I tell him? Should I tell him what Grunkle Stan and Great Uncle Ford told us? Its better he not knowing everything. I already messed up this timeline by telling who I am."_ Dipper thought of it since he came to this house.

"Well, Great Uncle Ford, My sister and I spend our summer here, in the shack." Dipper hesitantly told him. "Oh! So you're staying with me during the whole summer? That is great." Ford raised his eyebrows in fascination. He would spend his summer taking care his Great-Nephew and Great-Niece.

"Actually, it's more complicated than that. It's not you who would be taking care of us. It was Stanley."

"What? What do you mean Stanley is the one who will be taking care of you both? Where am I during that time?" Ford stared back at Dipper. That was not what he would hope to hear.

Dipper nervously chuckled and told him "You're not in the town while… we arrived. You're… uuhhh… someplace else, studying anomalies I guess. You have been in secrecy and all of that so we couldn't know much." Dipper held back the truth, for the greater good. Ford stared long at him. He seems to process the answer and tried to analyze Dipper's face for any signs of lie.

"Oh, okay." Ford continued biting his sandwiches. Then the conversations ended abruptly there. Dipper shrugged and finished his slice of sandwiches.

* * *

Few minutes later, they both have finished the food. Ford looked at the watch. It was already nighttime. "Dipper, I don't have any spare room at this moment, but I can let you sleep on the couch tonight. You can clean the attic by tomorrow morning. There's an extra bed in it and it may take a while to clean, but I'm sure you'll like it." Ford told Dipper as they were walking down the hall into the living room.

"Great Uncle Ford, the couch is more than enough for me to sleep." Dipper said. He didn't want to trouble Ford as he look like he's gone through something awful lately. The messy hair, the eye bags, the worries in his eyes.

"Alrighty then, I'll be down at the lab. Good night Dipper!" Ford told him as he went into the dark empty room that was supposedly to be the gift shop in the future.

"Great Uncle Ford! If you don't mind can I come down with-"

"No Dipper! My lab is a very dangerous place, for now. You would not come down here unless I asked you so." Ford cut him before he could ask. "Now you should get a good rest and please don't try to come down to the lab." Ford then disappeared into the dark empty room. Dipper could hear a door opening and slammed shut.

Dipper sighed. He knew that his Great-Uncle Ford was kinda paranoid, but he couldn't believe that his Great-Uncle was THIS paranoid back in the day. He remembered when Stan tries to hug Ford after 30 years not seeing him, he gave Stan a good right hook to the face. It was not a pretty sight to look at.

Dipper approached the couch, climbed it and pulled the blanket that wrapped him earlier. He lie his head down. He began to think about Mabel. Where could she gone? "Mabel, I'm sorry for everything, I'll try to make this right again. I hope you're safe." Dipper muttered to himself.

 _"I'm a horrible twin brother."_ Dipper thought before shutting his eyes.

* * *

 **On the next episode, Does Stan manage to run away with Mabel from the goons that have been chasing him? Dipper learn the horrible truth about McGucket, Bill and Ford and the intention of into building the Portal.**

 **Review please!**

 **DRSVC WFIXZMVJ PFL**


	5. A Deal With Him

**For some reason, I can't read the reviews. Luckily, I enable Reviews Alert so I can see it in my e-mail! Thank you guys for the positive reviews. I know that the last chapter was kinda rushing. It's been a while since I started writing like this again. So bare with me.**

 **I was thinking a new fanfic; an AU that I've been making in my dream, but I'll write that up later. I need to finish this one first before making a new one!**

 **I'm blabbering right now so let's get into the story!**

* * *

Stan couldn't sleep that night. Not for long, anyway. He'd close his eyes and start to drift off only to wake up moments later with a start; not due to any noise or nightmare, just to some internal reflex in his mind. He stood up and paced around the room. Packed and repacked his duffel bag. This wasn't insomnia, he realized. He has been awake for two nights like this. And it wasn't him worrying about the kid, either. It was instinct, telling him to keep awake, keep alert.

He sat by the window, cracking it open to look at the outside of the motel. Through the blinds, in the distance, he saw two cars pulling in towards the motel. That was enough for him. He wasn't going to wait and find out who was in those cars. His instincts were usually right. He immediately grabbed his duffel bag.

A half-formed dream slowly blurred into darkness as Mabel was awakened by Grunkle Stan's voice. "Mabel?" She felt his large hands shaking her awake. "Wake up, kiddo."

"Mmnh?" Mabel's bed felt different. She'd fallen asleep in her skirt and sweater. She lifted her head and rubbed her eyes...she wasn't in the Mystery Shack. It wasn't until Stan's face came into focus that her disorientation fell away and she remembered where she was. When she was. Stan's hair was long and dark and his face wasn't lined. He looked like the pictures on his old ID cards.

"How'd you like to go on a road trip?" he asked, grinning broadly. "Like, right now?"

"Okay." Mabel yawned, smiling. "Can we get breakfast?"

"I know a place that serves great breakfasts just outside the state line. C'mon, chop chop, time's a-wasting." Stan took her arm, all but dragging her out of bed.

Mabel followed Stan out the back door, down to his car. She smiled seeing it again. It had fewer dings and probably far fewer miles on it. But it was the same car that she'd rode to Gravity Falls Lake in and the familiarity was comforting. She hopped into the front seat.

"Buckle up, we're about to do some reckless driving." Stan said, steering the car around the back of the motel and through a construction barrier, peeling out onto an unfinished dirt road. Mabel made quiet little oofs as they bumped and clattered towards the highway, rolling through red lights and completely ignoring the gentle suggestions posed by speed limit signs. It was probably a good thing the roads were empty.

"What time is it?" Mabel squinted out the window. "The sun's not even up."

"Time to sit tight and stop asking questions." Stan said. He was nervous, she realized. He kept checking the mirrors and shifting around in his seat. The last time she'd seen him like this was when those government guys showed up at the Mystery Shack.

"Hey..." Stan's eyes fixed on her from the rear-view mirror. "Is this kidnapping? Did I just kidnap you? You brother didn't mind I'm taking you with me right?"

Mabel shrugged and yawned. "I dunno. Maybe."

"I feel like a cop would consider this kidnapping. Are you sure your parents or your brother aren't someplace back in town?" He gave her a stern look. "Because if they are... if you're just trying to skip out on them for fun, you need to tell me now. Because it's going to be really hard to go back there soon."

Mabel squirmed a little under his gaze. "...My parents live in California."

"California?"

"Yeah. But they're not there now." She shifted... She couldn't tell him the whole truth. Even if he believed her... saying stuff like this to people in the past, telling them about their future, that's what got them in trouble the first time. A few white lies and lies of omission wouldn't hurt.

"And your brother?" Stan asked in a concern tone.

"I told you, I don't know…" Mabel answered him without facing him. She kept looking outside the window. How could she tell Stan about the crazy things that happened to her?

Stan gave her a skeptical look. "How'd you get all the way to Philadelphia?"

Mabel shrugged and just kept quiet about it. There was no way she's telling him the truth. It's better to keep quiet like this rather than making him thinking she's talking nonsense.

"All right, have it your way." Stan adjusted the mirror again. "Well. It's a good thing your parents or your brother, wherever he is, aren't back there. Because we're not gonna want to go back to that city again."

"Where are we going?" Mabel asked.

"Hmm. What's your favorite letter of the alphabet?"

"M!" Mabel replied.

"Aw jeez. All right, we're going to Minnesota. I'm sick of the south. Did you have extra sweater?"

"No, but I can knit an extra if I have ball of yarns with me." Mabel told Stan while looking at the backseat of the messy car. Sheesh, there are a lot of boxes and junk behind here.

"There are some yarns in those boxes. We can try to look for it if we stopped somewhere after this."

Mabel yawned and nodded, taking off her sweater and tucking it under her head to use as a pillow. The front seat was surprisingly roomy, so she have some space to lie down beside Stan who was driving the car. He might look different but she knew he was the same Stan. With him there, she wasn't alone. She tucked her head into her arms and quietly meowed herself to sleep.

* * *

Dipper couldn't sleep. He worried about Mabel, he worried about how he will find her. He turned his body around to get a good spot on the couch to feel sleepy, it's not working. Frustrated, Dipper get up and fetch the TV remote beside the couch. He aimed the remote to the TV and clicked it. The TV lights up, but sadly, only static screen was available. Dipper changed the channel a few times, only to find out there were nothing on it.

He turned off the TV and jumped out from the couch. The living room was still dark. The sun was still not up yet. Dipper decided to go to the kitchen to get something to eat.

He then exited the living room and found himself on the hallway. Along the hallway, he noticed one room that the door was slightly opened. Dipper noticed that there are some strange lights illuminating from that room. He decided to check it out. Slowly pushed open the door, he discovered a shrine that had been covered with large sheets. He inspected the room. He noticed that the paintings on the wall were all covered with sheets, it was weird. The floor at middle of the room seemed to have some sort of drawings, but unfortunately it had been scrape.

Dipper walked around the room, he felt that something was watching him, there's an eye in this room. He knows this feeling. _Bill._

But how come he felt this presence? Dipper decided to take a peek on what's behind the covered shrine. He approached the shrine, pulled the sheets that been covering it and what he saw made him dropped to the floor.

It was Bill Cipher's shrine, deities of triangle with one eye, a bow tie and a hat. Suddenly Dipper could hear _his laughter_ around the room. The sheets covering the paintings dropped and it all revealed Bill's portrait.

"No, no, impossible. Great Uncle Ford couldn't possibly made a-"

"A deal with him?" Ford was at the door, yellow light illuminating his glasses. "You shouldn't be here."

"What is all this? Have you made a deal with him?" Dipper asked with a stern, demanding voice. "Have you gone insane?!"

Ford started to enter the room, moving towards Dipper. The yellow light was still illuminate his glasses.

" _Is Bill in Ford's body right now?"_ Dipper mind was rushing with millions of questions right now.

Dipper moved back and looked around for something. He need to protect himself from that man.

Dipper saw a steel rod lying beside the shrine. He picked it up and manned it.

"STAY AWAY!" Dipper warned Ford.

"Calm down, put the rod down, P-"

"Pine tree?! Is that what you gonna call me?!"

"I was gonna say 'Please'!" Ford seemed to beg the boy to put down the steel rod.

"No, stay away, Trust no one. Trust. No. One!"

Dipper accidentally swung the steel road to Ford when he realized he was nearing him very close. Unfortunately, Ford caught the steel rod and now he was the one who's gripping it.

Dipper kept backing away until he hit the wall, there's nowhere to go anymore. This is it, his fate was sealed. He's gone for good. He closed his eyes and wait for the blow to the head from the steel rod Ford was holding.

Dipper flinched a bit when he felt a hand holding his shoulder.

"Dipper, it's me, your Great-Uncle." He heard Ford's voice. Slowly, he opened his eyes to have a look at the man claimed to be his Great-Uncle.

"Look into my eyes, look at my pupils, Dipper." Ford then knelt down to the boy's eye level, adjusting his glasses to give Dipper a better view of his eyes.

It was a white normal eyes without any yellow tint.

Dipper breathe out a heavy relieve. He thought he was gone, but still, he need explanations about all of his affiliation with Bill. He looked at Ford and the man understand that the boy wanted explanations.

"I know you want explanation for all of this. Let's get out from this room and we'll talk in the kitchen. I made pancakes." Ford said with a broken smile.

Dipper just nodded and followed Ford behind to exit the room. Before closing the door, he swore that he heard Bill's menacing laughter from that room. It made Dipper's broke a cold sweat.

They continued to the kitchen, hoping that Dipper will get an explanation.

* * *

After finally found ball of yarns and knitting needles in some random boxes at the backseat of the car, Mabel finally started knitting. She was using the green and pale red yarns to make her new sweater. She looked outside the car, they were at the gas station somewhere in Illinois. She could felt her stomach growling wildly. Mabel realized she haven't eaten anything since last night. She tried to ignore the growl and furiously knitting the sweater.

"Who wants gas station burritos?" Stan shouted from the outside of the car.

"I do, I do!" Mabel yelled, raising both hands, letting go of her knitting. She pushed aside her project and Stan put a warm, plastic-wrapped package in one and a bottle of soda in the other. He continued to settle into the driver's seat with a cup of coffee.

While Stan had been getting gas and food, Mabel had brushed her hair and pulled it back with a headband. She'd also covered her scrapes with a couple of band aids and used a water bottle Stan had in the car to wash her face. She felt much more ready to face the day now, even though she still wearing the same sweater. She can finished a new sweater in another few hours.

"Oooooh… hot on the outside, cold in the middle." she said, taking a bite of her breakfast. "It's like two burritos in one!

"Heh." Stan smiled at her while she ate. "So, uh, how often do kids need food again? Like, once a week? That's close, right?"

Mabel ignored the question. "Are we close to Minnesota, Uncle Stan?"

"Nope, just another few states and we'll reach Minnesota. For now, we're just gonna have a soothing ride." Stan noticed the yarn ball, it looks like Mabel have been busy already. "Already starting on the new sweater huh?"

Mabel nodded while chewing the burrito. "Yup, and I'm planning on making one for you too!"

Stan smiled hearing the generous thoughts. "Hey, don't trouble yourself kid, I already got my jacket. What's more important is your sweater to wear."

"Don't worry Uncle Stan, sweater-making is my specialty. I usually can make 3 sweaters in a few days."

Hearing Mabel's reassurance, Stan just nodded and continue sipping his coffee. "Tell me about your brother."

"My brother?" Mabel turned to Stan. "Well, we're the same age, in fact, we're twins!"

Stan eyes widened. He immediately turned his head facing Mabel.

"His name is Dipper. We sorta have some stupid argument before he left me." Mabel frowned.

"Is it bad?"

"No, not really. He used to bail me out whenever I'm in trouble. He always there for me if I'm stuck with problems. But that night…" Tears begin to fill Mabel's eyes.

She started to sobs "That night I-I did something stupid tha-that somehow offended him. He said t-that I-I didn't trust him. I realized that I made him angry."

"I'm horrible twin sister." She finally broke down crying. He hands covered her face.

"Hey, it's alright. You did what you think is right. You didn't mean it. He won't be mad at you that long. A twins never can never hated each other."

Stan remembered Ford, his twin brother who now resides in wherever he is now. 10 years without calling, Stan felt hurt, being kicked out from his home by his dad, being told that he's useless, seeing Ford as the only child that have the potential make money for the family. But he let it all slide. He never blamed Ford for it, it was his fault too for breaking his science project that night. It was his fault that Ford cannot go to his dream college.

Stan patted Mabel's back in a gentle, fatherly way. Mabel turned to Stan and wrapped her arms around Stan's neck. Another hug. Stan returned the hug by squeezing her extra tight. "Come on, kid. You're strong. I'm sure your brother forgive you by this time." Consoled Stan.

"Are you sure?" Mabel muffled on Stan's shoulder, still sobbing.

"I'm sure of it sweetie."

Mabel let go of Stan, returning to her seat. She wiped her remaining tears away. "Thanks Uncle Stan."

"Hey, no sweat. Now let's get going. After all, you got a sweater to finish."

Stan reignited the car's engine, backed it up and revved out from the gas station, steering right into the freeway once again.

* * *

"What you've done back in that room, if I really was Bill, though, you would've done great. I should of been more like you when I had a chance." Ford sighed on remembering what he had done the past months.

"What happened to you and Bill? Have you made a deal with him?" Dipper asked. He had an instinct that the Portal Ford built was impossible unless someone that have a vast knowledge on the unknown helped him.

"I used to think he was my friend. I had hit a road block in my investigation of Gravity Falls, until I found some mysterious writing in a cave. Ancient incantations about a being with answers. It warned me not to read them, but I was desperate. I read the inscription aloud. But nothing happened. Until later than afternoon, when I had the most peculiar dream." Ford took a sip from his can of Pitt Cola before continuing.

"He introduced himself, and he knew my name, and he even invited me to play a game of interdimensional chess! Anyway, he told me he was a muse. That he chose one brilliant mind a century to inspire. What a fool I was. Blinded by his flattery and games. He became my research assistant. He was free to move in and out of my mind as he pleased. We were partners. When he told me I could complete my research by building a gateway to other worlds, I trusted him. He said this was the way genius happened. Little help from a friend. At that moment, I was on the verge of my greatest achievement! Until Fiddleford got a glimpse of Bill's true plans."

Ford paused, staring at the can he's holding. He remembered what happened to Fiddleford after he was pulled out from that portal. He said something gibberish Ford couldn't understand. What did he saw that make him freaked out like that?

* * *

 _"When Gravity Falls and earth becomes sky, fear the beast with just one eye."_

 _"Fiddleford, get a hold of yourself, you're not making any sense."_

 _"This machine is dangerous. You'll bring about the end of the world with this. Destroy it before it destroys us all!"_

 _"I can't destroy this; it's my life's work!"_

 _"I fear we've unleashed a grave danger on the world. One I'd just as soon forget. I quit!"_

 _"Fine! I'll do it without you! I don't need you! I don't need anyone!"_

* * *

"And then what happened? Did you met Bill again?" Dipper asked.

"What?" Ford snapped from his thought. "Oh, I faced him again in my dream. I persuaded him to tell where does that portal lead. But he held back his true plan. I even threaten him that I'll shut down the portal. But he warned me, that I can't stop a bridge between their worlds from coming to us." Ford sighed. His face showed a sign of paranoia and utter fear.

"My whole life's work that I thought I would be achieve something. It was now lead to nothing."

"So, did you dismantle the portal yet?" Dipper hesitantly asked.

"No, I'm on it. But I had to do something first. I need to hide all of my journals. I've marked the locations around Gravity Falls forest as a location to hide it. And, I'm going to need your help." Ford asked Dipper for help. He can do this alone, but it will be a waste of time if he didn't do it quickly. The portal needed to be dismantled fast and he promised the boy that he will repair his time travel device.

Without hesitation, Dipper agreed in helping him. "Sure Great-Uncle Ford. Just tell me where I should hide them and I'll be on my way first thing in the morning."

There was a relieve showing from Ford's face when he said he agree to help. Dipper perfectly understand what he's been through and he wouldn't want to burden him anymore.

"Thank you Dipper. Now, finish your pancakes and go get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow morning." Stan ordered.

Dipper nodded and quickly finished his pancakes. Ford told him to leave the plate on the table. He did that and he said goodnight to Ford before retreating back to the living room.

Ford stood up, picked up the plate and washed it. He put it back into the shelf and left the kitchen. He then proceed to enter the door leading to his underground lab.

* * *

 **On the next chapter, Stan confronts the goons that been chasing him and he needs to ensure Mabel's safety. Ford send Dipper to hide the journal, but during the task, Bill interupts Dipper and he offers a deal Dipper can't refuse, or can he?**

 **KRUU LRYQNA RB FJCLQRWP**


	6. A Haunting Visions

**I really pushed myself to the limit on this chapter. I need to rest my brain for a few days before continuing.**

 **Here's a tip; want to get depressing while thinking of Gravity Falls? Listen to Coldplay's The Scientist and there you go! A feels train coming to get you!**

 **Enough bragging, here's chapter 6.**

* * *

The moon was shining bright that night. The El Diablo was zooming fast on the freeway. Stan noticed two bright headlights illuminating from behind. The cars were speeding really fast behind him, almost bumping him. Stan saw an intersection to some small town and steer towards the town.

The sudden swerve must have woke Mabel, he heard her making surprised, confused noises. He turned the wheel sharply and winced internally as he heard a thump that was probably a little body slamming into the door.

"What's happening!?" He heard her say. He glanced sideway and saw her sitting up, trying to buckle herself in.

"Trouble." he couldn't hide the fear in his voice. "Keep your head down and hold on!"

Stan turned sharply and brought the car into the alleyway. The body side of the Diablo scratched violently besides them. Stan immediately regretted his decision, the cars were still following them.

He needed to figure something out. Stan couldn't endangered Mabel with this kind of problem. He must make sure Mabel is safe. That was his first priority. He take a peek at Mabel beside him, she definitely scared and confused by the screeching made by the car hitting the walls beside them.

"Mabel, sweetie, listen to me. The moment we off this alleyway, I need you to get off this car and hide."

"WHAT!? No, Uncle Stan, I'm not leaving you!" Mabel was shocked by what Stan had said.

"Listen here Mabel, these guys that are chasing us are dangerous people, and they will do bad things to you if you get caught alongside with me. I'm not letting that happened to you!"

Mabel shook her head, she couldn't believe what she had heard. "NO! NO! If we're in trouble, we're gonna face this together. These jerks are not that hard to-" The car suddenly swerved left violently, making Mabel bump herself to the door.

They exited the alleyway. Stan looked through the rear view mirror, the cars that chased them didn't went out from that alleyway yet. Stan scan around him for somewhere that he can dropped off Mabel to hide. He noticed the large garbage dumpster across the street.

The car screech to a halt. Stan looked at Mabel. "Mabel, you need to get out now. Hide behind that dumpster. Don't go out until I come back."

"No, Uncle Stan, No." Mabel eyes teared up. Stan groaned, he had no choice but to lean and opened the door at her side.

"NOW KID! They're coming!" Stan raised his voice.

Mabel jolted by his voice, she stared at Stan. Slowly, she get out from the car and slammed the door, she was angry and sad. The car immediately sped up into the distance. Mabel run behind the dumpster, and crouched. She heard the cars that was chasing Stan passed by at a very high speed.

The street became silent. There's no car passed by after that, it's just Mabel, the streetlights and the dim road at the distance. Mabel teared up, she began to cry. She was worried about Stan but at the same time was angry at her for leaving her. She sat behind the dumpster, bent her knees and her arms wrapped around it. She buried her face into her arms, sobbingly cry.

* * *

Moments later, Mabel could hear a car pulling up near where she hide. Mabel backed up a little more behind the dumpster, trying to hide herself in the shadow. She heard the car's door being opened and closed, a footsteps approaching her. Mabel covered her mouth tried to hide her sobs.

She saw a large shadowy figure approached at the side of the dumpster. Then a dark figure slowly peeking in behind the dumpster. Mabel's eyes widened, she began to hyperventilate and she was ready to scream if the figure suddenly pulled her or something like that.

"Mabel?" A familiar gruff voice came out from the figure. "Mabel, sweetie, It's me, Stan."

The figure then backed away into the streetlight, revealing a bloodied-faced Stan. There were bruises around his eyes and blood stained from him mouth, a bloodied knuckles and his shirt are ripped. He looked terrible, but otherwise, he was fine.

Mabel crawled out from behind the dumpster and ran to him. Mabel wrapped around his neck and hugged him. Stan then pulled her away gently and knelt down.

*WHACK*

A sudden slap hit Stan's face. "Oww! What the heck was that for?"

"You jerk! How could you leave me here like that?" Mabel cried as she hammered her tiny hand onto Stan's chest. "I was afraid, I was worried about you!" The waterworks began to flow on Mabel's cheek. "What if you died or something?! Don't you cared about me?"

Stan couldn't respond. He also regretted for leaving Mabel alone but that was the only choice he had. He needed to settle with the people that had been chasing him for quite some time. He couldn't endangered Mabel with it.

"I'm sorry Mabel, I didn't mean to leave you. I mean look at me, this is what they did to me! I don't want you be like this too." Stan tried to explain the situation he had just went through.

Mabel wrapped her arms around Stan's neck and buried her face into his shoulder. "What were you thinking leaving me like that?"

Stan couldn't think anything to say except hugged her back by squeezing her extra tight, although that made his body ache, darn those guys were tough. Those 6 men pinned him down badly on the corner of the street. Luckily he had his brass knuckles. Those years of boxing were finally worth it.

"Come on sweetie, let's get out of here. We need to get moving."

Mabel released her hug and pointed her finger to Stan, she commanded in a motherly manner. "No! Not before you patch yourself up. You looked terrible. What have those jerks have done to you?"

"Ehh, its nothing much. Hey, I got some first-aid kit in the car. Would you like the honor to patch me up?"

Mabel wiped her tears and her smile began to grow back. "Of course I would! Let's go!" Mabel pulled Stan's hand, almost dragging him, back to the car. Stan yelped when his arm was tugged away.

"Slowly kid, my arm still hurts." Stan told her. Mabel just responded by letting out a small laugh.

"What happened to those guys?"

"Uuuhh… Non-specific excuse!"

"Aaww, come on Uncle Stan, you being a poop head."

"Alright, alright. I'll tell you when you're patching me up."

* * *

Dipper opened his eyes. It was morning. The sunlight flared though the windows and the outside still felt cold with snow. Dipper lifted himself up, yawned a little bit and rubbed his eyes. He jumped off from the couch and headed straight to the Kitchen to see Ford.

"Hey Great-Uncle Ford? I'm up already." Dipper voiced as he reached the kitchen. There was no one in the kitchen. Dipper shrugged. "He must be in the lab." He murmured to himself. Dipper took the liberty to look for something to eat. He found a cereal box on the shelf and a carton of milk in the fridge. He took the bowl and a glass and started to serve himself.

After finishing his breakfast, Dipper decided to go down to the lab to look for Ford. He went to the empty room and looked for the entrance to his lab. He found the door to the lab, it was slightly open. Dipper slowly pulled it opened and entered. The door behind him slammed shut making him flinched a little bit.

It's the same staircase like he went down last time. Dipper descended the staircase and headed straight to the elevator. He closed the door and the elevator descended to the underground. Dipper then, noticed one strange floor when he passed by down. It was locked. _Strange, what room is that?_ The elevator continued to descend.

Finally reached the lab, Dipper slide open the door. He noticed that the lab hasn't changed, it was like he saw 30 years later, of course this was 30 years ago. He noticed the portal. Dipper grimaced as he remembered exactly what happened in this lab, that very night…

* * *

 _"I wanted to say that you're gonna hear some bad things about me, and some of them are true, but trust me. Everything I've worked for, everything I care about, it's all for this family!"_

 _"Mabel, what if he's lying? This thing could destroy the universe! Listen to your head!"_

 _"Look into my eyes, Mabel! You really think I'm a bad guy?"_

 _"He's lying! Shut it down NOW!"_

 _"Mabel, please!"_

 _*Ten. Nine.*_

 _"Grunkle Stan…"_

 _*Six. Five.*_

 _"I trust you."_

 _"MABEL, ARE YOU CRAZY?! WE'RE ALL GONNA-"_

 _*One.*_

 _A sudden explosions of light making them screams._

* * *

Dipper shook his head, trying not to remember the moments. He knew Mabel loved Stan very much, but at that moment, how could he possibly know Stan's true intention with that Portal? He may be using it to destroy the world or use it to open up a gate to Hell. But then, how can he blamed either of them? He might be overreacting too much. He should have trust Mabel and Stan.

Dipper approached Ford who's sleeping on the chair near the portal control. Upon nearing him, he noticed that Ford sounded agitated, he was talking in his sleep.

"No…. Bill…. I'll shut down…. You can't… do anything…" Dipper heard Ford muttered in his sleep.

Dipper tried to wake him up by shaking Ford's body gently. "Great-Uncle Ford? Wake up."

Suddenly, Ford opened his eyes, swatted Dipper's hand, sat up and reached for the crossbow. He aimed at Dipper's head immediately.

"WOAH! WOAH! FORD! It's me! It's Dipper, calm down!"

Ford's eyes gazed at Dipper as the boy backed away from him. Slowly, he put down the bow and put it on the table.

"Jeez, I apologized Dipper. On second I thought you were Bill." Ford took a seat back and wiped his face with his hand.

"What happened to you Great-Uncle Ford? You seemed like you didn't sleep for weeks." Dipper asked.

"Not just weeks, months. It's just that, I can't sleep! I kept hearing voices, I kept meeting _him_! He harasses me in my dream and he kept… projecting this visions…"

"What visions?"

"The end of the world… the Armageddon." Ford turned his chair and reached for the shelf on the table. He slide opened the shelf and it revealed most of it were books on quantum physics, anomalies, and bioengineering. Dipper noticed sets of Journals from Journal #1 to Journal #3.

Ford took out the Journals and put it on the table.

"These are the Journals. Take it and hide it at these place I've marked on the map." Ford handed Journal #2 and Journal #3 to Dipper and showed him the map that has been marked with red circles. Dipper noticed the location of Journal #3, he knew the place, it's where he found that Journal via the secret tree that held the control panel to the trap door on the ground. Meanwhile, the location for Journal #2 is somewhat familiar but he couldn't make it out yet. Dipper noticed that Ford didn't gave him Journal #1.

"Great-Uncle Ford, what about Journal #1? Where did you plan on hiding it?"

"That my boy, I'm giving to someone who I have no one else to trust now besides him and you."

"Who is it?"

"Stanley."

Dipper's eyes widened. _Of course Stan would kept one for himself._ "Grunkle Stan? But how can you contact him? Do you know where he is right now?"

"I don't know Dipper, but I have sources telling me that he's on his way to Minnesota. He's a wanted man you know, not from the law, but from the people that he conned and cheat. The gambling, the crappy products he sold, all of that nonsense."

 _Well, that sounds like Grunkle Stan._ Dipper chuckled to that thought.

"And Dipper, take this too." Ford handed him the crossbow. "The forest is a dangerous place. You might not know what you'll find in there."

"Great-Uncle Ford, me and my sister saw many things in that forest. One time, Mabel was kidnapped by the Gnomes and tried to make her their Queen."

Ford cocked an eyebrow hearing that. "Huhh, fascinating. How did you guys managed to get out?"

"With leaf blower." Dipper answered Ford with a flat tone while packing the Journals and crossbow into the backpack Ford provided.

"Amazing…" Ford jaw gapped open hearing Dipper's solution on defeating the Gnomes. He didn't even thought of Gnomes weaknesses as they seemed to have none. But his great-nephew from the future seemed to find a solution just in a day.

Few minutes later, Dipper finished packing the Journals and the crossbow, ready to head out. "Well, Great-Uncle Ford, I'm ready to head out. Hey, about the tape measure, did you manage to repair it?" Dipper suddenly remembered the time travel device he asked Ford to repair.

"Oh this? Yeah, I take a look on it last night and it was amazing Dipper!" Ford sounded so fascinated by the device. "The circuitry built in this device are still intact, the only problem is that one modulator seems to have burnt." Ford opened the cover and showed at Dipper. Yup, he noticed a burnt modulator where Ford pointed him with one of his six-fingers.

"So, can you fix it?"

"Judging by the materials and tools that we have in this decade, I think I can patched it up." Ford answered Dipper with some hope in it. "It's just, it may take time, that's all."

Dipper smiled, his face was brightened hearing that gave him hope that he and Mabel can go back to the future. Dipper run to Ford and hugged him.

"Thank you Great-Uncle Ford! Thank you!"

Ford was astonished by the boy's hug. He seemed to have no words coming out from his mouth.

"Uhh… uuhh… you're welcome, Dipper." Ford said as he pulled Dipper away gently from the hug. Ford cleared his throat and ordered Dipper to go to the forest.

"No time's wasting. You have a tasks to complete."

"Okay Great-Uncle Ford, see you later!" Dipper ran to the elevator as he waved his hand Ford. "Oh, and Dipper! Take one of my jacket from the living room! It's cold outside and I don't want you catching cold." Dipper gave a thumbs up to Ford and closed the elevator's door. Ford saw the boy ascended up back to the house and Ford took a seat once again.

He haven't felt hug like that since… 10 years ago, with Stan. A heartfelt, warmth hug. Ford shrugged it off and remembered that he has other work to do, to repair Dipper's time travel device.

* * *

The forest was not too much different than he remembered, except it was snowing. Only the path are a little bushy here and there. Dipper walked straight for the tree that contained the control panel. He remembered the tree was also the entrance to Ford's bunker, where Dipper and the Gang met the Shapeshifter.

A few minutes later, Dipper arrived at the tree. He opened the door panel and it revealed the control panel. Flicking the switch, the trap door on the ground near him opened. Dipper proceeded to put Journal #3 into it and closed the trap door.

One down, one more to go.

Dipper pulled out a map that Ford had given to him earlier. He took out his marker pen and cross out the location for Journal #3. Next, he needed to hide Journal #2 at….

 ** _Abandoned warehouse on 412 Gopher Road._**

"W-wait what?" Dipper stammered at what he saw on the map. That is where Gleeful warehouse would be. But then, Dipper could not argue anymore since Gideon is the one who would possessed Journal #2 in the future. Without wasting any time, He packed everything up and went straight to the warehouse.

* * *

After 30 minutes travel, Dipper saw the warehouse from the distance. He shuddered when he saw the large building. That is where he was tricked that Toby said he wanted to interview Dipper the supernatural occurrences around Gravity Falls.

Dipper approached the entrance, he pushed open the door. He saw that the warehouse was indeed empty and abandoned. There was nothing in it except for spider webs and dusts. Dipper walked into the warehouse, thinking where is most logical place to hide the Journal.

*CLANK*

Dipper stepped on something metallic, he lifted his left leg and saw a door. Intrigued, Dipper knelt down and opened it. It was a secret compartment. He chuckled and proceed to open the backpack and put Journal #2 in it. After settling hiding the Journal, he decided to go home fast. He was hungry and it's was snowing badly.

* * *

Exiting the warehouse, he suddenly felt the world around him stopped spinning. He color surrounding him washed out into black and white.

"Oh, no." Dipper knew what was coming to him. There was a maniacal laughter coming from the sky. There was a bright blue light flashing in front on him and there he was, the one-eyed, bow tie wearing with a top hat Triangle;

"WELL, WELL, WELL! LOOK WHO'S LOST?" Bill greeted Dipper with bowing down his top hat.

"Leave me alone Bill! Whatever you're offering I'm not taking." Dipper shouted at Bill and turned around to run to the shack.

"OH REALLY? YOU REALIZE THAT YOU'RE AT THE RIGHT PLACE IN THE WRONG TIME? THERE'S A PUN THAT I CAN USE HERE BUT ANYWAY, I CAN HELP YOU, PINETREE. HELP YOU GET OUT FROM THIS TIMELINE AND RETURN TO THE FUTURE!"

"I got my way back to the future Bill! Now stay away from me!"

Bill suddenly vanished and appeared in front of Dipper, making him jumped back and fell to the ground.

"YEAH YOU DO, I KNOW THAT SIXER'S BEEN HELPING YOU TO REPAIR THE DEVICE. BUT EVEN IF HE MANAGE TO REPAIR IT, WOULD YOU WANNA RETURN HOME WITHOUT SHOOTING STAR!" Bill started to trap Dipper with that statement.

"Shut up! I'm not listening to you!" Dipper covered his ears not to listen to the temptation offer anymore.

"OH YOU WOULD!" Bill snapped his finger and between them revealed a vision showing Mabel was crying alone on the curb in the street. Dipper gasped as he saw her sister was sitting on the curb alone, somewhere on this Earth.

"Stay away from her! I warned you Bill. Leave her out of this!" Dipper warned Bill even though he knew the warning was useless.

"TSK TSK TSK, PINETREE YOU DUMMY. WHAT DO YOU THINK I WOULD DO? I HAVE A BIG PLAN HERE AND YOU AND YOUR SISTER SHOWED UP TO MESSED THIS TIMELINE UP. I CAN HELP YOU FIND YOUR SISTER AND GET BOTH OF YOU BACK TO THE TIMELINE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE."

Bill snapped his finger again and revealed the vision where a man snatched Mabel and pulled her into a car. Mabel was screaming for help.

 _"DIPPER! DIPPER! SAVE ME! HEEELLPPP!"_

"NO MABEL! NOOO!" Dipper screamed at the vision. He needed to do something. Her sister was in danger! Bill then snapped the finger again and the vision vanished.

"RELAX PINETREE. THAT WAS JUST A POSSIBILITY OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOUR SISTER. SO, IF YOU WANNA MAKE SURE YOUR SISTER SAFE, I CAN HELP YOU HELP HER STAY SAFE."

Bill extended his right arm. There it is, the hand with blue flame to seal whatever deal Bill gave. Dipper looked at the arm, he needed Mabel safe. He wanted to find her but where would he start? There is no way he could ventured outside Gravity Falls now to find her. She might be at the edge of the world for goodness sakes.

Dipper turned his head away from Bill. "I'm sorry Bill. There's no deal for you. I won't fall for you again. My sister knows how to take care of herself and I'll find her eventually, even it means that I'm stuck in this timeline for all my life!"

Bill's blue flamed hand are gone. He was enraged by what Dipper had said. "SO YOU WANT IT THAT WAY? OKAY, I PLAY IT YOUR WAY!" Bill's yellow body turned to red and enlarged himself toward Dipper.

"BUT REMEMBER, THE LONGER YOU STAY IN THIS TIMELINE, THE MORE YOU'LL CHANGE THE FUTURE." Bill shrunk back to his yellow form and decided he had stay long enough. "LOOKS LIKE MY TIME WITH YOU IS UP. MY DEAL IS STILL OPEN IF YOU WANT. JUST REMEMBER, REALITY IS AN ILLUSION, THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM BUY GOLD BYE!"

Sudden blue flash blinded Dipper's eyes. He shielded his eyes against the bright light. Moments later, he rubbed his eyes and looked around him. The surrounding are colorful again, the snow are falling like crazy and Bill is gone. Dipper then ran back to the shack without looking back.

He can't tell Ford about this, he's paranoid enough with Bill and that Portal and he cannot know that Bill is harassing his Great-Nephew. He decided to shut up about this.

* * *

Ford was in the kitchen making himself a cup of coffee. He sat down at the table and picked out the time travel device from his pocket. He still needed to understand the circuitry and the type of modulator this device used. He was fascinated by it and couldn't stopped thinking on how the time travel machine would fit into such small thing like a tape measure. He put the tape measure on the table and proceed to sip the cup.

He then heard the front door opened and slammed shut. Ford became agitated. He slowly stood up, reaching for the knife on the shelf and hide himself behind the kitchen entrance. He saw the little shadowy figure reaching into the kitchen. He flung himself to the little figure, pinning it to the floor.

"Ford! What the heck?! It's me! Dipper!" The figure said with a stressed voice.

Ford looked at the figure carefully. It was indeed Dipper. He quickly picked up his flashlight and shone to the boy's eyes. It was a white pupils. Ford then stood up and gently pulled Dipper up.

"I'm sorry Dipper, it's just, I need to make sure you're not… _him._ "

"Yeah, I noticed. Jeez, you really need to take a rest. You look like… crap." Dipper couldn't help but pointing out to Ford what he may not noticed.

Ford ignored him. "Have you hidden both of the Journals?" He immediately asked.

"Yes. I've hidden both of it." Dipper opened his jacket and went to the kitchen table. He laid the jacket on the chair and pulled it to sit down.

"Listen Great-Uncle Ford. You need to rest. If you continuing like this you may get sick."

"That is not for you to worry Dipper. The important thing now is-"

"The important thing is now to get you well rested!" Dipper raised his voice, slightly making Ford jumped.

Dipper then sighed and continue. "Great-Uncle Ford, I know that you've made a huge mistake and you're now felt responsible for it. But you can't punished yourself like this. This paranoia has to stop!"

Ford slowly sat at the table across Dipper where he was sitting with his cup of coffee.

"Why would you care so much?"

"Because you're my Great-Uncle if you didn't noticed! I have been in your situation and trust me, this is the only vulnerable time for Bill to strike you. If you continuing like this, you may have stabbed or shoot me when come near you!"

Ford staggered by what Dipper had said. He was right. He's been in this state for quite some time and he felt like his mind going crazy. He rarely slept since the revelation of the Portal for the last month and a half, and he rarely went out to town anymore.

Ford sighed. "I'm… sorry Dipper. You're right, I needed some rest. There's so much going on right now I'm thinking I'm going crazy." He pulled his glasses, and rub his eyes with his fingers.

Ford then finished his cup of coffee, stood up and headed out from the kitchen.

"I'll be in my room. Good night Dipper, and please, don't come down to the lab." Ford said as he climbed up the stairs. Dipper then heard a faint door opened and closed.

"Oh man, Ford really went cuckoo banana." Dipper murmured to himself.

* * *

 **On the next chapter, Stan and Mabel reach Minnesota, and Stan will receive postcard from someone that will make him go to Oregon.**

 **R'V BJON KAX-KAX, MXW'C HXD FXAAH.**


	7. Call from Oregon

**Hey, wanna hear a joke? No? Aahhh fine.**

 **Anyway, I've been busy with things *cough*Fallout4*cough* and I suddenly forgot this story ever existed! I also wanted to inform you guys that I've been writing new story which is called "A Shattered Star" and it is now available for the first 2 chapters! Think of is as a prologue. Go read it and tell me what you think.**

 **Here it is, chapter 7, I'm having trouble in writing Ford and Dipper's relationship and to extend Ford's paranoia. You guys can leave an opinion in the reviews if you wanted, or PM me!**

 **Enough bragging, onto the story!**

* * *

Mabel nearly finished her knitting on her sweater. It was a green sweater with a pale red heart in the middle of it. She felt satisfied when she saw her finished knit. Immediately Mabel opened her old purple sweater and put on the newly knitted green sweater.

"Look Uncle Stan! I've finished the sweater!" Said Mabel with a wide grin.

Stan, still driving, turned his head a little bit to see her. He smiled. "That's nice kid."

"I'll start making one for you!" Mabel started to pick up her knitting and her hands are moving furiously. Suddenly she stopped, her stomach was growling.

"Are we there yet?" Mabel asked, she was getting hungry after a long day in the car.

"Almost. Once we get to Minnesota, we'll gonna have some tasty burger!"

"No, I want pancakes. Can we get pancakes?"

"Then pancakes it is!"

Mabel cheered when she heard that.

"How are you feeling Uncle Stan? I did a pretty good job patching you up, right?"

Stan looked at his hands on the steering wheel, she sure does a neat job bandaging the hands. Then he looked at the rear view mirror. His head was bandaged, his nose have a glittery band-aid and overall, it was nice.

"Does this glittery band-aid necessary? I mean, it was nice and all but-"

Mabel interrupted. "No, Uncle Stan, a glittery band-aid is REALLY necessary! It's good for your big nose to heal faster." Mabel explained with a big grin.

Stan groaned hearing that. He looked ridiculous, but nevertheless he cracked a smile when looked at his face again. "You did good kid, thank you."

"You're welcome! And can I braid your hair? Your hair is majestic." Mabel stood up a little bit and went to touch Stan's hair.

"Hey, hey. A mullet is not for braiding." Stan dodged his head from Mabel's hand.

Mabel pouted her mouth and sat back. "You're not being fun."

"For your information, I love my mullet just the way it is."

They passed a signboard stating 'WELCOME TO MINNESOTA!'.

"We're here Mabel. We in Minnesota."

Mabel jumped a little bit in a happy way hearing that. Stan just chuckled watching her hyperactive behavior. "Now let's go get that pancakes you're craving!"

The Diablo sped up, entering a small town.

* * *

"Uncle Stan, you said that we're gonna eat. Why are we sitting here on the park? The diner is just across the street!" Mabel pointed out to the diner called 'Jim Jones's Diner'.

Stan paced back and forth, he's thinking of something. He needed money. He hasn't got money since he left Philadelphia. He turned to Mabel who was sitting on the bench and asked her.

"Kid, you ever try acting?"

"I was in a school's play last year. I played a character of "The Adorable Bunny". They chose me because you know, I'm 'A-daw-able'!" Mabel made a cute face pretending to be a bunny. Stan chuckled a little bit looking at her bunny expression.

"Heheh. You wanna pretend to be my daughter? We're pretty much look alike that people think we're related."

"Yeah, heheh…." Mabel laughed nervously. "What a wacky and unexpected coincidence…."

"You think you can do that? People let you get away with all kinds of stuff if they think you're a single dad."

"Hmm….okay. But my mother was a gymnast." Mabel said thoughtfully. "No, wait. A wire walker. And she used to do wire walking performances for the circus."

"Sure, why not." _This kid is really random._

"And she was beautiful. I got my looks from her, of course."

"You got your smart mouth from me." Stan smirked. "Be glad you didn't get my nose."

"And she died tragically after this one wire walking performance. The wire that was used in her performance was loose and the circus crew didn't realize at what happened. To make things worse, there was no safety net below and she was hanging up high the 15 feet from the ground!" Mabel made a horrifying face, pretending to point her finger at the sky, "Then it all happened so fast, my mother fell and my dad, which is you, didn't managed to grab her from the ledge of the pole, and…. You know the rest."

Stan nervously chuckled. "That's… pretty dark don't you think? Can you cry on command?"

Mabel nodded. "I just have to think about Simba's dad dying." She stared into the distance for a moment, concentrating until tears welled up in her eyes and she started sobbing dramatically into her hands.

"Ha! That's perfect! We're gonna be unstoppable together." Stan grinned. He hesitated. "Uh…you can stop crying now."

"It ta-akes a few m-m-minutes." Mabel sobbed, wiping tears and snot on her sleeve. Stan patted her shoulder.

* * *

After Mabel calmed down from her "dramatic performance", Stan explained his plan to her. It seemed overly complicated to Mabel, and she couldn't understand why it had to involve a glass eye and a violin.

"And that's when you turn on the waterworks. Got it?" Stan asked.

Mabel shifted a little uncomfortably on the bench. Joining in on one of Stan's con tricks had seemed fun when they were just talking about it, but now that it was actually happening she wasn't so sure.

"I don't know if I want to do this, Uncle Stan. It seems… dishonest."

"What? No, no. It's like Robin Hood. You like Robin Hood, right?"

"Robin Hood steals money from the rich and gives it to the poor."

"We're poor! Look at our shoes!" Stan took Mabel's hand and started walking her down the sidewalk. "If you want to keep eating, we're gonna have to make money somehow."

Mabel sighed. "I wish there was a way to get money just by asking nicely."

"They have that. It's called begging, and we're not doing it." Stan said, slightly annoyed.

"Well it can't be any worse than tricking people." Mabel took her hand back and folded her arms.

"Ha! You only say that because you never had to do it."

"Have you?" Mabel asked.

Stan got a look on his face. Something tense Mabel couldn't identify. "That. Is not the point. The point is that panhandling is a lot more dangerous than you'd think. And it's against the law in a lot of places, including here." he said, casually scooping the contents of a sidewalk cafe's unguarded tip jar into his pocket.

Mabel glared at him. "Aren't there laws against stealing too?"

"Big difference." Stan held up a finger. "The whole point of stealing is to not be seen doing it. The point of panhandling is to do it where people can see you." He looked down at Mabel, who was looking at the ground. "…Look, if you don't want to do this, it's fine. I'll walk you back to the car and you can wait there."

"Nooooo… I want to help." Mabel said reluctantly.

"Maybe we should keep things simple." Stan suggested. "…Are you good at being distracting?"

Mabel smiled, nodding enthusiastically.

"Good. How about you walk through that crowd over there and keep everyone's attention on you. I'll catch up with you later."

Mabel nodded and ran ahead, deciding not to ask what exactly she was distracting people from.

A few hours later, Stan found her back in the park. He was counting a roll of bills in his hands, and he looked pleased.

"Did I help?" Mabel asked.

"You sure did, sweetie. We make a good team." He pocketed the money. "Ready to get something to eat?"

"Heck yeah!" Mabel grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the diner.

* * *

That morning, Dipper wasn't really know what to do. The shack isn't like the shack he used to know. It was full of equipment, blueprints and lots of books regarding quantum physics, astrology, and engineering. The living room was a mess except for the couch that was pretty comfortable for obvious reasons.

Dipper needed to wake up Ford who's still sleeping in his room. Since last night He entered his room, he hasn't come out till this morning. Dipper walked through the hallway to reached Ford's room.

Reaching the room, Dipper knocked on the door, trying not to startle the man who happened to be a paranoid and might attacked him anytime.

"Great-Uncle Ford? It's me, Dipper. Its morning already. You wake up yet?"

There was no response.

"I'm coming in! Please don't try to pin me down or try to stab me or anything."

He slowly turned the door knob, pushed the door, and peaked his head through the cracked opening. He heard snoring, a loud snoring. Dipper continued to enter and he saw Ford was sleeping on the floor besides the bed. The guy must have fallen from the bed.

Dipper crept slowly to him to wake him up. Unfortunately, he kicked a stack of books and it tumbled down loudly. Surprisingly, Ford still didn't woke up. He was dead sleeping. Dipper let out a relief sigh.

Approaching Ford, he shook the man who was snoring loudly on the floor. "Great-Uncle Ford, wake up. Its morning already."

Ford slowly opened his eyes.

"Hmph?" He mumbled as he tried to get up from the floor. He then stretched himself up. A few bones was crackling in his body. He then breathe out a satisfied huff.

"Good morning Dipper!" Ford greeted Dipper with a pretty fresh face. Dipper was surprised that Ford look this bright.

"Uuuhhh, morning Great-Uncle Ford. How was sleep?"

"To be honest, it's pretty great! This is the first time in months I've sleep without nightmare." Ford excitedly told him.

"Well, then that's great! Hey, let's make a breakfast shall we?"

"Alright then. Pancakes?"

Dipper nodded. "Pancakes."

Both of them step out of the room, making their way to the kitchen.

* * *

"How did you end up here exactly?" Ford asked while slicing pieces of pancake with is fork. He was curious about the boy's arrival to the past, to this time.

Dipper looked up away from his plate, he was rather enjoying the pancakes Ford had made. It was pretty good as Stan's except there were no follicle of hair sticking on it. Dipper began to put his fork down and slightly shifted his seat.

"Well, uuuhhh… where do I start?"

"Alphabetically." Ford chuckled at his own joke.

"That night, my sister was in the attic room doing something. I was pretty angry at her as she did something that I didn't approve earlier in the morning. We have a pretty heated argument. I told her that… I always save her butts whenever she was in trouble and that made her pretty upset. She began to throw things out of the window, and…." Dipper paused for a while remembering the moment Mabel held that tape measure. He shook his head to let it go away.

"Are you alright?" Ford ask in a concern tone.

"Y-yeah. She grabbed the tape measure, I told her to stop, we tugged the thing and accidentally pulled the tape…. And he I am, stranded with you and god knows where she were right now." Dipper sighed and rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't even sleep right thinking about her. Is she safe? Where is she?" Dipper cover his face with his palm. "I'm a horrible twin brother."

Ford saw a distressed yet worried face showing from Dipper. He began to think of Stan. Stanley Pines, his twin brother. After 10 years of didn't contacting him, he felt rather… selfish. He realized that after all this years, he prioritized the portal rather than amending his broken relationship with his brother. It was tough for him to make the call to him, but soon, he had to; he had no choice.

"Dipper, did I ever tell you about how Stanley and me were not together anymore?"

"Yes, actually, both of you told us about your life story."

"Then you know that I was at the fault that he was kicked out from the house."

Dipper shrugged. "I guess."

"Well, it is. And I didn't even blame him. He always taking care of me entire his life. But my ego were high, he's just afraid that I left him. When he accidentally broke the Perpetual Motion Machine I've made, I was over my head. I blamed him, but I knew he didn't mean it. 10 years passed, and here I am. Sometimes, there will be a call that no voice will came out from the other line. I thought it was a stupid prank, but hearing the sigh voice, I knew it was him. He just… hung up before I could ask who it is." Ford told Dipper as he looked outside the window, watching the cold snowy landscape.

Ford stood up, picked up the plates, put it in the sink and washed it. Dipper, who was still sitting at the chair, was in deep thought of her sister. He needed to find her, but it was useless because he knew it won't be going nowhere with that.

"I'll be down in my lab if you need me anything." Ford informed as he dried his hands with a towel. He then proceeded to make a beeline to the empty room where the entrance to the lab was when suddenly the phone rings in the living room. He turned to the living room to answer it.

"This is Stanford Pines!"

"….."

"Hello?"

"..."

"…Stanley..? Is that... you?"

The phone was hung up. _It was definitely him._ Ford hang the phone back and ran to the entrance of the lab.

"Dipper! Come with me!" Ford shouted from the hallway to call him who was still at the kitchen.

"What? What is it?" Dipper confusedly asked while exited the kitchen

"We're going to send a postcard to Stanley!"

* * *

Back at the motel, it was evening and Stan was at the phone booth. Mabel was happily sitting on the hood of the Diablo while knitting a sweater for Stan. Stan was still gripping the phone receiver tightly.

"He called my name… How can he possibly know?" Stan murmured. He slick his hand across his brown mullet hair and stepped out from the booth. He walked towards his car where Mabel was.

"Hey uuhh, since we still have some money left, we're going to rent a room for a night. How's that sound?"

Mabel cheered at that suggestion Stan gave and stood up on the hood of the car. "Of course, I'd love that!"

"Alright then, so I'm gonna head to the receptionist to book a room. Then we're gonna pick up our-"

"Aaaaaannnnnndddd done!" Mabel cut Stan with a big grin. He cut the last string of yarn sticking on the sweater. "Hey Uncle Stan, the sweater for you is finished. Come have a try!"

Stan shrugged and approached her. "Sure why n-" He was cut off mid-sentence when Mabel yelled,

"SWEATER ATTACK!"

In an instant, Stan found himself assaulted by a face full of wool as Mabel struggled him into the newly made sweater. Finally, she was done, and after Stan recovered from the sudden shock of it all, he looked down and took a long look at the sweater. It was bright green, and in the centre was a big giant pale red heart, identical to Mabel's, with the words "World best Uncle" below the heart. His heart swelled. He looked at Mabel, seeing the bright, round eyes and big grin, hoping for him to say something nice, Stan open his arms as a sign of hugging.

Mabel then jumped off the hood of the car and ran towards Stan. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed as hard as she can.

"Thanks sweetie, it's really nice and comfy."

"You're welcome Uncle Stan."

Stan pulled her away and told her to take whatever belongings she had in the car and follow him from behind. Mabel acknowledge and turned back to the car to pick her stuffs and proceeded to follow Stan into the motel.

* * *

It was nighttime. Mabel was sleeping on the bed situated on the left side of the room. Stan took the right side where the windows were. He didn't sleep, couldn't sleep the well. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the goons that were chasing him. He sit upright, shifted himself to the edge of the bed. He stared at the door for quite some time. Later, he felt that it was ridiculous and felt he needed to splash his face with some water. He stood up and made a beeline to the bathroom.

*KNOCK. KNOCK*

Stan heard a knocking sound from the door. Adrenaline kicked in, he immediately turned around to grab a wooden bat hidden below his bed. He slowly approached the door, leaning beside it. He lifted his hand, ready to swing the bat if the door was crashed open. But there was no crash, there was a postcard sliding through the crack of the door on the floor. He then went to take a peek at the window to see who it was. He saw an old post man who was leaving. Stan was relieve, but still curious about the postcard.

He picked it up and examined it. The front was written "GRAVITY FALLS" and on the back it was written "PLEASE COME! -FORD." Stan eye's widened as he stared at the handwriting. _Ford? How come… why is he… How the…_ His mind was flooding with so many questions. Ford asking for his help? How come he didn't call? Stan was then startled by Mabel voice.

"Who was it?" Mabel asked from her bed. She was rubbing her eyes and yawning. She must have been awake by the door knock.

"Nothing sweetie. It's just a post man" Stan answered her, still staring at the postcard. He then turned to Mabel to ask something.

"You wouldn't know about this place wouldn't you?" Stan held up the postcard and showed the front side. Stan could see Mabel's eyes widened and she gasped at the postcard. "You… know something didn't ya?"

Mabel nodded slowly. "Uncle Stan, whatever you wanna do after this, we need to go to this place." Mabel demanded as she jumped off the bed. She approached Stan, and asked for the postcard. Stan gave it to her and she flipped the card to read the content. She squealed as she saw Ford name attached to it.

"UncleStanweneedtogettogravityfallsnowwhilewestillhavetimepleaseplease!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down kid. What's with the excitement?"

Mabel began to ask. "Who send this?"

"My brother. Stanford."

"Perfect! Then we must go there now!"

"Uhhh, now?" Stan raised a brow hearing her.

"Yes! Now!" Mabel then went to her bed to take her sweater and wore it. _This is my chance, I could ask Grunkle Ford to help me with this mess and maybe he'll help me find Dipper._ Mabel's mind was racing with hope and desperation. She knew that Ford had the thing to help her, some way or the other.

Stan, who was slipping Mabel's handmade sweater on, still confused by the little girl's enthusiasm to go to Gravity Falls. It's like she knew the place. But he let it slide, trying not to think about it. The important thing is what did Ford wanted his help so much that he sent Stan a postcard.

Both of them exited the room, entered the Diablo, and revved off from the motel straight onto the highway, leading to Oregon.

* * *

 **On the next chapter... screw it, I wanna next chapter to be a surprise for you guys! But I have a feeling that you guys will know what will happen after this eeehh?**

 **Review please! C'mon guys, look at Mabel beside me. She's been waiting for something nice and you guys-**

 **Mabel: Hey, I didn't say that! You said I was gonna get a cookie if I stayed long enough.**

 **Uuuhhh, heheheh. You got me. Here it is.**

 ***hands her a plate of cookie***

 **Now run along now.**

 **Mabel: Thanks Forrester!**

 **Kids...**

 **NQI VCLXM IZ U ZYUNBYL,**

 **MUS NBUN NBYS'LY UFQUSM,**

 **AIHHU MNUS NIAYNBYL.**


	8. Together Again

**Been reading some reviews and I sincerely thank you for all the positive reviews you guys gave me. Yes, I realized that I have grammar and spelling mistakes but I can't help it. It's been quite a while I've been writing and I started to warm back up with this fanfic. Also, thank you for following this story as it interest you guys so much.**

 **Anyway, enough thanking, onto the story!**

* * *

That night, Dipper and Ford were in the lab. They were discussing about the time travel device, how Dipper got it, the time traveler the twins met named Blendin Blandin. Dipper was relieved that Ford was less paranoid now rather than they met the first time. He was pretty much relaxed and chill up to the point that he made a joke.

"Great-Uncle Ford, are you sure that you send the postcard to the right place?" Dipper asked Ford. The man confidently went to the post office he received a call regarding where Stan was.

"Of course! The person who called me is a reliable resource. He usually helped me find things for my certain projects for the past few years." Ford answered as he inspect the time travel device at his table. Ford was close in successfully repairing the device. He just needed to twitch a few things here and there before he gave it back to Dipper.

"So, when he knock on that door, what would you say to him?"

"I don't know Dipper." Ford sighed. "We don't speak to each other for almost 10 years and… What do I say to him?"

Dipper scratch his chin, "Just tell him, you're sorry for everything." Dipper told him. Ford stared at him for a while, he's processing what Dipper just said. How can he say that? It's embarrassing to him and he's quite ashamed for what he'd done.

"It's not that easy Dipper." Ford said reluctantly.

Dipper then stood up from the seat, approached him. "Nothing is easy. But you have to try." Dipper reassured him with a heartwarming smile.

"Alright, alright. I tell him that once he's got here. Now it's late. You should get some sleep. I'll be down here if you need anything." Ford told Dipper.

"Are you sure? Don't you want me to stay here with you?" Dipper hesitantly asked. He wasn't sure that Ford would sleep again like yesterday.

Ford put down the device he's repairing and turned to Dipper. "Yes, and don't worry, I'm not going to stay that long, I'll go to bed as soon as I finished this." Ford laid his hand on Dipper's shoulder as a sign of reassurance.

Dipper just nodded, said goodnight to him and proceeded to the elevator to the ground level. Ford just stared at the boy as the elevator ascended from below. He sighed and continue his suspended work. _That boy really cares about me._ Ford smiled at that thought.

Dipper went to the living room to get ready for sleep. He jumped onto the couch and started to lay on it. After a while Dipper felt rather uncomfortable with his position. He started to realize that sleeping on the couch was a bad mistake. But he didn't have any choice other than the couch. The attic he checked on earlier in the morning was a mess. They're full of boxes, electronic parts, some large generators and apparently a mini windmill. Dipper sighed, having no choice like that, he struggled himself to fall asleep. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

* * *

 _"DIPPER! HELP MEEEE!"_

Dipper flashed opened his eyes. He jolted upright and looked around for the distressed voice. It was Mabel's. He jumped out from the couch and realized he wasn't in the living room or the shack. He was in the forest. It was dark and he felt an eye was watching him. _This is bad._ Dipper's voice started to sound behind his head. Suddenly a flash of bright blue light flashed in front of him. He knew what it was.

"HEY THERE PINETREE!" Bill started to appear in front of him out from the blue light. "HOW ARE YOU DOING? YOU'VE BEEN BUSY WITH SIXER EEHH? HE'S LUCKY HE GOT A GOOD SLEEP LAST NIGHT, I WAS BUSY CHATTING UP WITH MY OLD FRIENDS." The Triangle was swinging his can on his black arm. He looked so relax while floating on the air.

Dipper backed away a little bit. He was not expecting that he will meet with the triangle demon again, not after he refuse the deal. Looks like Bill will kept pushing him until he agreed to it.

"I told you I don't want to deal with you!" Dipper shouted at Bill. "Mabel can take care of herself and I'm sure she will find me eventually!"

"OOHH, I WOULDN'T COUNT ON THAT. YOU SEE, SINCE BOTH OF YOU ARRIVED HERE, THE TIMELINE HAD BEEN DISTRUPED AND IT SKEWED SLIGHTLY FROM THE ORIGINAL PATH. AND IF YOU CONTINUE THAT YOU'LL BE MESSING UP WITH MY BIG PLANS! AND I DON'T WANT THAT!" Bill enraged and started to enlarge himself, turning his body from yellow to red. His one eye was inch close to Dipper. The boy jumped away back and was startled by what Bill had just said. He realized that he had been telling Ford about Mabel and himself, the future and told him about the time travel device. He tried to avoid more mess that he would made by shutting up his mouth. _What would Bill be offering this time?_ Dipper couldn't believe what he just thought, his thoughts betrayed him.

"How do you even know me? You shouldn't even know me as I'm still not born in this time!" Dipper questioned the Triangle.

Bill laughed. "YOU'RE SO STUPID. YOU FORGOT THAT I'M AN INTERDIMENTIONAL BEING THAT HAVE LIVED LONG BEFORE THIS UNIVERSE WAS BORN! I KNOW EVERYTHING. I HAVE SEEN A DIMENSION WHERE YOU AND STAR BECOME ORPHAN, AND ANOTHER DIMENSION WHERE YOU DIED IN A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT, ANOTHER ONE IS WHERE YOU BECOME A FREAKING HALF-DEER/HALF-HUMAN AND MY FAVORITE ONE IS WHERE YOU YOURSELF BECAME A DEMON LIKE ME!" Bill reveal to him as he snapped his finger showing each visions of the dimensions he referred to. Dipper was struck in awe and horrified at the same time. "BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT. I'M HERE FOR SOMETHING ELSE." Bill snapped his finger again and the visions vanished.

Dipper shook his head, trying to get the images he just saw out from his head. "What do you want this time, Bill?" Dipper couldn't hold himself much longer and blurted out the question.

Bill started to shrink and became his yellow form again. "GLAD YOU ASK! I KNOW YOU DON'T WANNA SCREWED UP THIS TIMELINE ANYMORE. YOU REALIZED THAT SIX-FINGERS SHOULDN'T MET YOU AND HIS DUMB BROTHER WILL BE HERE IN A COUPLE OF HOURS."

"So? What's your point?" Dipper crossed his arms.

Bill groaned. "SOMETIMES YOU REALLY ARE DUMB. YOU KNOW THAT AFTER THIS THEY SHOULD HAVE A BIG FIGHT AND SIXER WILL BE SUCKED INTO THE PORTAL, SO ALL I NEED YOU TO DO IS JUST DON'T DO ANYTHING, I MEAN ANYTHING TO INTERFERE WITH THAT EVENT!"

 _Bill's got a point._ Dipper thought. "So, what's the deal this time, Bill?"

"THERE'S NO DEAL THIS TIME! I JUST WANNA YOU TO STAY STILL AND JUST WATCH, IF, AND ONLY IF, YOU WANNA SEE THIS TIMELINE PRESERVE AS IT IS."

"Oh… kay. You're not playing anything behind me do you?" Dipper was suspicious as Bill didn't offer him anything this time.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, YES! I DON'T HAVE ANY OFFER." Suddenly an alarm timer rang. Bill looked at his body, it was lit on and off with red light. "THIS IS MY CUE. DON'T FORGET THAT PINETREE! REMEMBER, I'LL BE WATCHING YOUUUUUUUU!" The bright blue light appeared and Bill was vanished. Dipper stood in the living room, alone. He looked around, he was back.

He took a seat and scratched his messy hair. He thought about what Bill just said. He's really gonna let Ford and Stan fought? He laid back onto the couch and shut his eyes again for some sleep.

* * *

"Dipper, wake up." Ford shook Dipper who was still sleeping on the couch. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Ford shaking him. He immediately sat upright and stretched himself a little bit.

"Yeah, what's up?" Dipper asked while rubbing his eyes.

Ford extend his arm, showing the tape measure. "I've fixed it." He smiled. Dipper then slowly took the tape measure and examined it. "Wow! Great-Uncle Ford, this is great!" Dipper exclaimed excitedly.

"But…" Ford interrupted. "This is for one time use only."

Dipper shot back his stares back to Ford. "What? Why?"

"The pieces in this device is highly complex and the tech behind it was way beyond ours. I only manage to replicate some of the pieces of the modulator inside it by scraping every pieces of electronic parts that I can use from the radio." Ford explained and opened the device's cover and showed Dipper the modulator parts which was now patched up with various electronic parts.

Dipper slowly nodded. He stared at the Shack's door and he remembered Mabel, he couldn't go back without Mabel. He needed to find her first, even it took forever.

"Something bothering you Dipper?" Ford asked as he looked at the boy stared at nothingness.

Dipper sighed. "Yeah, I'm glad you could repair this but, I still can't go back without Mabel."

Ford didn't say anything. He also wondered if Stan would ever come met him. He could imagine that the door being knocked and there he was, standing in front of it…

*KNOCK. KNOCK*

Ford turned his head to the knocking sound on the door. Dipper and Ford looked at each other. Both of them nodded and Ford made the first step towards the door. Dipper followed suit behind him. Ford then slowly turned the knob and pulled it open. He gasped at the figure stood in front of him.

"Hey there Sixer." Stan greeted him. Ford was still frozen by the sight of his twin brother.

"H-hey Stan, I didn't thought you would find this place." Ford was stuttered as he spoke. It was awkward for both of them to speak to each other after 10 years separated.

Stan chuckled. "Well, thanks to this little girl, she showed me way around this town. She seems to be very familiar with this place." Stan pointed Ford the girl that was hiding behind his legs.

"Stan…"

"Yeah?"

"Is that your… daughter?" Ford suddenly asked.

Stan face palmed. "No Stanford, I still didn't marry and I don't have a girlfriend. I didn't slept with anyone for the pass 10 years because I was too busy doing business. Is that enough for you?"

Dipper approached the door to join them and he noticed someone behind Stan. He took a step forward to see who it was and suddenly, his body was shaking seeing the girl.

"Ma-Mabel?" Dipper blurted out.

The girl behind Stan's leg took a peek to see who it was. She stepped out and she voiced out.

"Dipper? Oh my god, Dipper!" Mabel ran to Dipper and tackle hug him. Both of them were now on the floor.

"Mabel I'm so sorry, God I missed you so much, I was worried about you." Dipper cried as he was still in Mabel's hug.

"I missed you so much Dipper, I was scared I couldn't find you. I'm sorry for messing everything up." She said as her voice cracked from her sobbing.

"No, Mabel, I was the one who started this mess, so I'm the one who should be apologizing you. I'm sorry. I would never do anything to harm you ever again." Dipper shot back as he released his hug from away from Mabel. He gave her a calm and reassuring look.

Mabel wiped his tears and frowned. "But, the tape measure… It's gone."

Dipper smirked. He took out the tape measure from his pocket and showed it to her. "Great-Uncle Ford fixed it." Mabel's eyes widened as she heard that. She excitedly hugged his brother until Dipper couldn't breathe. "Mabel… too… tight…." Mabel then released his brother, laughing. "Sorry broseph." Both of them laughed and teased each other.

From behind, Stan breathe a sigh relieve as he looked at the twins hugging and comforting. He wished that the same thing would happened for him and Ford but of course, it didn't happened. Ford just silently watching them, he was unsure about what he had seen. The twins that was forgiving at each other and even though before this they were in a huge fights. He was conflicted at his own feeling.

"So… wanna invite us in?" Stan snapped Ford from his gaze. Ford turned to his twin. "Yeah, come in, do come in."

All of them enter the Shack and Ford slowly closed the door behind him. It was both the happiest and the awkward day for both Twins respectively.

* * *

 **The end is near, and I don't have any idea. Feel free to give me ideas and I might use it!**

 **Review please as always!**

 ***Mabel comes barging in Forrester's room***

 **Mabel: COOKIES!**

 **Woahhh Mabel, can't you see I'm busy?**

 **Mabel: DON'T CAAARREEEE!**

 ***Mabel push Forrester down and proceed to the kitchen to eat the cookies.***

 **Darn kid. She's just lucky she's adorable.**

 **IHY YSY CM QUNWBCHA SIO JCHY NLYY.**


	9. Make Yourself at Home

**Hello. I'm back.**

 ***pies gets thrown and hit Forrester's face***

 **Hey, hey! Okay I'm sorry for the super late update. What can I do? Life treats me not too good. Okay, I promise to make it up to you guys after this.**

 **Anyway, the new chapter arrived and I finally faced my writer's block. Still, I'm not satisfied with this chapter though, lots of it I wrote using mobile, so forgive me for not proofreading it and I can assure you, there will be a hella lots of grammar error in it.**

 **Another announcement is that "A Shattered Star" will be updated real soon. I planned to focus on that story after I finish with this one.**

 **Shout-out to Princess Dia and Nurse Medua for their awfully constant positive review. I also like to thank you guys for sticking with me all this time. This story is arguably the best one I've written so far and I intend to keep it that way.**

 **Enough rambling, let's get to the story!**

* * *

It was very awkward for Stan and Ford to sit together at the kitchen table. Dipper was just staring at these older twins with a sense of amusement. Mabel however was annoyed these Stan and Ford didn't making any progress. Ford shifted his eyes a little bit to Dipper, signaling for some help. Dipper face palmed and immediately mouthed him "say you're sorry." On the other hand, Mabel was nudging Stan with her elbow to make Stan say something.

"Uuugghhh, I can't believe you two. Just say it already!" Mabel snapped after waiting for so long. Ford and Stan stunned a little bit hearing the little girl's voice. Immediately, Ford took the first move.

"Look Stanley, it's been a long, long time since I've spoken to you, and I just wanna say that I'm sorry." Ford said.

Stan smirked a little bit. "Well, that's a first. 10 years and you didn't even bother to call me."

"Oh boy." Dipper and Mabel both murmured in unison. This will not end well.

"Hey, I kept in touch with your progress and your whereabouts. You're really a pain in everyone's butts. You literally pissed everybody in every States with your stupid products and you conned some of the biggest mobs in Vegas!" Ford shot back.

Stan didn't like what he just heard. "Yup. Unlike you, I tried to make a living on the streets. Ever since dad kicked me out, and you just stared at me from the window and leave me hanging, I've been working my butts off trying to survive a day. I've been living in a car for almost half a decade and you, oh hohoho, you're really special you know that?"

Ford scowled at Stan. "You don't even understand what I've been through Stanley."

"No no, YOU don't understand what I've been through! I've been to prison in three different countries! I once had to chew my way out of the trunk of a car! You think you've got problems? I've got a mullet, Stanford! Meanwhile, where have you been? Living it up in your fancy house in the woods! Selfishly hoarding your college money, because you only care about yourself."

"I'm selfish? I'm selfish, Stanley? How can you say that after costing me my dream school?!"

"That's right, all you care about is your dream school. Even when I'm gone, even if I'm alive or dead this entire time. All you care is that dream school. You still don't realize yet do you, Stanford?"

"What's that?"

"You're my brother, I cared about you. But you don't." At that moment, Ford was taken aback. But he didn't said anything. He was frozen thinking of the next sentences he could say.

Stan let out a sigh. "Enough of this, I need some fresh air. I'll be outside if you need anything." Stan pushed himself away from the table and left the kitchen. Ford just stared at his empty seat, trying to process what Stan had said. Dipper and Mabel looked at each other and nodded in agreement on what they should do. Mabel will talk to Ford and Dipper will talk to Stan.

* * *

"Stupid Ford. Always thinking of himself. Why am I here anyway?" Stan muttered outside the Shack. He was sitting at the porch, thinking about what just happened inside. He didn't want to start an argument with him, but Stan was angry, and he needed to release it somehow. He just couldn't hold it back anymore.

"Hey there." A voice greeted him from behind making Stan jolted a little bit. He turned around and saw Dipper smiling at him.

"Oh, it's you. You're Mabel's brother. Dipper isn't it?" Stan said.

Dipper nodded. "Yup, that's me. Did Mabel told you about me?"

"Yeah, she told me about you. You guys from the future huh?" Stan asked raising a curiosity in his thoughts. Dipper's eyes widened when he heard that.

"Mabel told you? So… you knew that you and Ford are…"

"Your Great-Uncle. Yeah. Kinda hard to believe that, but hey, when it came from Mabel, I thought, why not?" Stan shrugged as he stared at the snowy forest.

"Yeah… that's kinda complicated to explain." Dipper nervously chuckled.

Stan just chuckled. "You don't need to explain anything kiddo. It's best not to know about your future." Dipper stood silently as he heard that statement.

"Uuuhhh… anyway. What's with you and Ford back there? You guys seems not liking each other despite that you guys are twins." Dipper asked as he sat beside Stan.

Stan sighed. "That's the problem. I guess I'm still holding grudges after all these years. But I can't be mad at him. The funny thing is, I didn't blame him for dad kicking out from my house that day. 10 years passed, he didn't call me or anything but… he's still my brother." Stan turned to look at Dipper. "Seeing you and Mabel being reunited this morning, make me wish that our relationship are still like that. But… it won't be anymore."

"Stan. You shouldn't be too hard on yourself. Ford realized what he had done. He just wanted to apologize back there, but you didn't gave him a chance to explain." Dipper told Stan.

"I know, kid. But sometimes these things get on my nerves you know?"

"Who hasn't? The point is, both of us have a twin. We are half of them. I mean, can you live without him if one day, you find out that he's… gone?" Dipper hesitantly asked. "What would you do?"

Stan sat silently, gazing at the snowy road. He never thought of that before. Maybe he's being too hard on himself, and maybe on Ford too. He realized that this is partially his fault… and Ford's too. He turned to Dipper and stared long at him.

"If one day he's gone… I guess, I'll find him, even if it takes my whole life."

Dipper patted his shoulder. "I know you would."

* * *

Mabel approached Ford who was still sitting at the kitchen table, sighing alone in frustration. Mabel mentally frowned when he saw that. _I need to do something._ Mabel's mind was set that she would help Ford.

"Hai there!" Mabel greeted. Ford startled from his deep thoughts. He looked up and the little girl was pulling a chair near to him and sat.

"Uuhhh… Hey. You're Dipper's twin sister, Mabel right?"

Mabel put on his widest grin. "That's right! My name's Mabel it rhythms with table."

Ford chuckled a little bit. "Heh, you're weird. I like you already."

"So am I! You're weird too with that extra finger!"

"You… noticed?" Ford help up his hand and stared at his six fingers.

"Of course. You have six fingers, that's one finger friendlier than normal!" Mabel excitedly told Ford with a widest smile any girl could ever give.

Ford was amused by this little girl's attitude. She reminds him of Stan when they were kids. Stan always be the one who always talked first and he's the one who smart-mouthed everyone when they were in trouble.

"I know I've been wronged with Stan, and he has all his rights to get mad at me like that." Ford sighed. "I blamed him when I knew he screwed up my science project, and I wasn't thinking through when I let dad threw him out that night. What I cared about that he destroyed my future career, my dream and my life. But after that, I realized…" Ford paused. "I was the one who destroyed not only his dream, but partially his life too. He… wants us to sail around the world with this boat we salvaged once from this cave. But… heh... It was just all a dream."

Mabel frowned when she heard Ford's confession. It must have been terrible for him to live through years without his brother. She couldn't imagine if she had to go through what Ford had been.

"Uncle Ford, you shouldn't blame yourself. People sometimes… get stupid and did something stupid. But, in time, when you realize what's right and wrong, others will forgive you." Mabel said with a reassurance smile. "Uncle Stan is a good man. He took care of me well. He still misses you, but he didn't told that to anyone. But I know."

Ford smiled when he heard that. That was the most heartwarming thing he heard since forever. He ruffled Mabel's head in a gentle way.

"You're good kid, Mabel. Thank you."

"Anytime!" Mabel grinned widely. But suddenly, the grin vanished and was replaced by a worrying frown. Ford noticed this and he asked.

"Something wrong?"

"Grunkle Ford, since you are the one who fixed the tape measure device, I assume that you know about our true identity right?"

 _Grunkle? A seconds ago Uncle, now Grunkle? And what is Grunkle? Is that even a word?_ Ford's intellectual thoughts processed the word before he realized he was off topic. "Y-yes. Dipper told me before I had a chance to put a bow through his head." Ford said with a flat, but a slight regret tone.

"And did Dipper told you about what supposed to be happening right now when Grunkle Stan met with you?" Mabel asked again. Ford shook his head.

Mabel sighed. "Grunkle Ford… The day Grunkle Stan came here, both of you were-" before Mabel could tell Ford any further, Stan and Dipper came into the kitchen.

"So, what are you two knuckleheads talking about? Are you telling some nerd things to her, Poindexter?" Stan chuckled as he said that. Ford glared at him. Stan noticed his glare and immediately cleared his throat.

"Stanford, look. I've been starting off the wrong foot. I want to apologize for yelling at you earlier. I… was mad and it went through over my head. I'm here for you, and you know it."

Ford's eyes widened hearing that. "Th-thank you Stan. I… I don't know what to say… I…" Ford's stuttering made Stan groaned.

"Just say you're sorry too." Stan folded his arms.

"Alright, I'm sorry for everything. I called you here because I need your help. But, that can wait for a while I guess." Ford rubbed the back of his neck as he extend his other hand. Stan saw this and gesture back. Mabel smiled from ear to ear when she saw this. She was about to yell something when Dipper pulled her out from the kitchen.

"Hey, hey! What the hey-hey bro-bro? I was gonna make them hug and you pulled me away."

"Mabel listen, did you tell Stan who we really are?" Dipper asked in a concern and worrying tone.

"Uuuhh, yeah."

Dipper groaned. "Why did you tell him?" His voice raised a little bit and made Mabel jolted a little bit. She knew her brother wasn't happy that she had told Stan about who they really were.

"If I didn't tell him, he would call me crazy for wanting to come here and knowing so much about this town. And not to mentioned that he's suspicious of me from the day he found me in Philadelphia." Mabel head went down when she said that. She was still horrified when she was separated that far from his brother. What would she have done if Stan haven't found her sitting on that curb?

Dipper felt sudden guilt for raising his voice like that. Mabel had been through worse than him. He thought it was necessary for Stan to know what was going on. He sighed and held his twin's shoulder.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. I wasn't thinking straight just now."

Mabel lifted her head again and smiled. "It's okay Dipper, you must have been worrying for me all this time didn't you?"

Dipper let out a small laugh. "Yeah. I can't sleep that much thinking my sister was stranded somewhere away from me." Dipper then remembered another thing he needed to ask.

"Mabel, did you tell Great-Uncle Ford about what will happened between them?"

"I was about to but you two came in and…"

"Don't tell him." Dipper cut her off.

"What?"

"If you tell him, you will alter the future. It's been damaging enough that we told them who we are. If Ford knows about the truth, the timeline we knew, will change. You understand that?" Dipper tried his best to explain these things in a simplest way for Mabel to understand. He knew if Mabel spilled out these things, the future they lived in will be altered. Who knows, maybe Ford decided to shut down the portal and he didn't get sucked into it. Will they be born or come to Gravity Falls? Will the events that they'd went through all this time will still be as same as before?

Mabel stared him in disbelieve. "But Dipper, isn't that a good thing? If we tell them what happened, they wouldn't have to fight. Grunkle Ford will not be sucked into that portal and we will have two happy Grunkles!"

"I know that's a good thing, but we wouldn't wanna risk more of our future. Sure, we can help them make amends now, but what about the future soon? I mean, do we exist like we were now? Do our lives are same as we lived?"

Mabel did not know how to reply to that. Her mouth gapped a little bit as she was about to say something, but she couldn't. Dipper was right, this is too much damage they've done now. Maybe keeping all these things under their noses are the best option for now.

"You're right Dipper. We just have to keep it to ourselves for now." Mabel finally admitted to his brother. Dipper nodded. "Yes we should. We'll just have to wait and see what happened next. Now come on, let's go meet them back in the kitchen."

Dipper turned around and made a beeline to the kitchen while Mabel followed suit. When they arrived at the kitchen entrance, they heard laughter and a merry conversation happening in it. They took a peek and saw Stan and Ford were sitting at the table, laughing, teasing and converse with each other. The little twins stared in awe when they saw the scene. It was so surreal to them. Stan noticed both of them at the entrance.

"You two. Come here. Ford made some hot chocolate for both of you." Stan called them as he lifted his cup of hot chocolate to show it to them. Both of them slowly entered the kitchen and joined them at the table.

"So, Dipper. I guess we can start sorting the attic room now since your sister arrived." Ford glanced at Dipper who was sipping the hot chocolate. The boy glanced back at him and nodded. Mabel squealed excitedly when she heard the attic room being mentioned. Stan, Ford and Dipper covered their ears by the high-pitched voice made by her. Stan just laughed looking at the girl's excitement.

Ford chuckled a little bit. "Alright, alright. We finished the hot chocolate and we'll go upstairs to sort the room." Ford said.

* * *

Four of them quickly finished the drink and later went upstairs to the attic room. Mabel and Stan stared in awe on how big and messy the room was. Ford flicked the switch at the wall and the lights beamed on. Stan slowly ventured into the attic room, trying to avoid every equipment and junks on the floor.

"Jeez Ford, what the heck are all these?"

"Just my unused stuffs… for my research and experiments." Ford said as he lifted a small generator. He then put it inside a small store room outside the attic room. "Also, be careful with the ion energizer. That thing is not-"

Stan lifted a peculiar object that seemed to have a digital meter and two antennas. "You mean this thing? This looks like a jun-OOWWWW!" A sudden electric spark came out from the device, stinging his hand, made Stan jolted and dropped the device. He rubbed his hand to ease the pain. Ford chuckled as he saw Stan grumbled in pain.

"Told ya." Ford gave a smirk.

Stan scoffed. "Whatever. These stuffs are dangerous for children. You should get rid of it." Stan said as he walked passed by a fairly large windmill. "And what's with this windmill?" Ford just shrugged and muttered "I don't know" to him. Truthfully, he didn't even know what that windmill does. Fiddleford just left it in the attic and never mentioned it again.

A few hours cleaning and sweeping up the room, it was finally neat and tidy. Since Ford doesn't have any extra bed, he reluctantly gave the twins a sleeping bags, a pillow and blanket.

"I'm sorry kids. I don't have extra bed for you guys. But I hope these sleeping bags could made you enough comfortable for you to sleep."

"Don't worry Uncle Ford. We're satisfied enough to get this room and we're gladly to sleep with this sleeping bags." Mabel announced. Since she arrived at the house, Ford felt a very bright and positive vibes are being let out by this little girl. She grew fond of her attitude and cheerfulness. Ford look at his watch and it was already time for dinner.

"Well, look at the time. It's dinner already." Ford looked at Stan who was still inspecting the windmill. _Why would Stan inspect that windmill for so long?_ Ford shrugged it off and cleared his throat.

"Stan, since you're the one in the family who actually can cook besides mom, how about you make something besides pancakes?"

Stan turned around and raised a brow. "Me? I-I haven't cook for quite a while." Stan replied with an uncertainty. Ford knew Stan's cooking skills were not that rusty. He could make a delicious soup and rice. He glared sharply at Stan. He noticed this and sighed.

"Alright. What have you got in the fridge?"

Ford smirked. "Well, how about we go downstairs and see for yourself?"

Stan shrugged and followed Ford from behind, exiting the room. Mabel and Dipper followed suit, exiting the room.

* * *

"You have all of these, but did you actually cook?" Stan asked when he saw the fridge were stuffed with meat, vegetables, fruits and a carton of milks and orange juices.

"Well, my colleague, Fiddleford used to cook for us before he left. But now, I'm sort of having a way with pancakes, porridge and oatmeal."

Stan noticed that Ford was a little bit skinnier than usual, at least what he remembered 10 years ago. He let out a sigh and began to pull meat, some vegetables and some fruit from the fridge.

"You're lousy cook anyway." Stan grumbled, making Ford chuckled.

"So, you're going to cook?" Ford asked.

"Instead of dying from starvation in this house? Yeah." Stan shot back. "Look, go see the kids in the living room what they want for dinner. I'll start sorting this out."

Ford nodded and went for a beeline to the living room. Upon arriving, he noticed that Dipper and Mabel were trying to watch the television but all of the channel they switched on were nothing but a static screen.

Mabel groaned in annoyance. "This TV is stupid. Could Grunkle Ford put on some channel or something?"

Dipper hushed her. "Don't say that. Just… clicked until we found something." Dipper then noticed that Ford was standing at the living room entrance. Dipper nudged Mabel with his elbow and both of them were now staring at him.

"You guys wanna see the TV? Unfortunately, I don't have local channel." Ford went on to pick up another remote on top of the television. "But I do have foreign channel." He pointed the remote and clicked on it. The channel then changed from a static screen to a channel with a talk show speaking different language. Mabel and Dipper stared the screen in awe as Ford switched on different channels.

"Grunkle Ford, do you really watch all of these?" Mabel asked.

"Some of it." He chuckled. "I was testing the satellite dish I installed a few months ago for my relay communication radio and I found out that it also broadcast TV channel. So I thought, why not?" Ford clicked the remote to change the channel. The channel was now showing a B-movie showing a Darth Vader lookalike fighting with Superman that did not look like Superman at all. As a fan of comic books and sci-fi, Dipper and Ford cringed looking at this monstrosity show. Mabel just snickered when she saw them cringing in disgust. Ford immediately change the channel into a foreign news. Both of them breathe a sigh relieve when it was over.

"So, Stan's making dinner. What do you guys want?" Ford asked as he gave the remote to Mabel. Both the twins grinned widely when they heard that Stan was cooking. They shared a brief glance before turning back to him.

"Since Grunkle Stan is cooking, just let him do the magic." Dipper told Ford. He raised a brow when he heard the boy's answer. He turned to Mabel, who was also nodding in agreement with her twin brother. Ford just shrugged.

"Alright then, I'll call you guys when dinner's ready." Ford said as he made his way back to the kitchen. Mabel and Dipper continued to browse every channels and finally they decided to settle for a Turkish Superhero B-movie that was very bizarre to Dipper. But at least it something than nothing.

* * *

Mabel burped loudly when she finished her meal. The steak Stan made was really something. The others just laughed when they her burping.

"You like my steak?" Stan smilingly asked Mabel who was still full from the steak she just ate. Mabel just groaned and nodded as she was too lazy to reply. Dipper and Ford was still savoring every pieces of meat slowly as they both haven't eaten anything besides pancakes and some leftover sandwiches. Stan happily sighed at the scene he saw.

 _Maybe everything will be back to normal again._ Stan had that thought ever since he stepped on the porch of the house. He was quite keen to meet his twin brother back. Sure it was pretty awkward and weird for a while, but Ford is still his brother, so there's nothing to be awkward for long. Stan could feel tears welling up his eyes. He couldn't hold it back.

"Stan, are you crying?" Ford stared into his eyes. He was curious that he saw tears brimming down his twin's face. Stan jolted a little bit, regain his thoughts and immediately wiped his eyes quickly before others noticed.

"No, it's just dusts flew into my eyes." Stan stood and brought his empty plate to the sink to wash it. "You should clean the house more often Poindexter."

Ford twitched a smile on his lip hearing that. Stan often tried to avoid anyone noticing that he's crying by giving a non-specific excuse. He too, once was glad to be reunited with his brother again. Maybe things will be different now. With Stan back to his side, maybe they will continue to pursue their dream of sailing around the world, remodeling this Shack into some sort of shop or just hanging out together in this town until they became an old fart. But… he needed his help first. The journal must be ensured safe with him. _Not now. This isn't a good time. I just met my brother. Give it a few days, and I'll ask him._

He got up from his seat and cleaned the remaining plates on the table. Dipper and Mabel were just finishing their drinks and Ford took a liberty to pick up their glasses too to be cleaned.

"Alright, kids. It's time to go to bed." Ford commanded as he turned his way around to the sink, joining Stan who still washing his plate. Mabel groaned when she heard this.

"But Grunkle Ford, I wanna watch some TV." Mabel pleaded as she stared into Ford's eyes. She gave him the widest, innocent eyes to him. Ford was quite confused by the way she look at him, but somehow he felt a certain sympathy for her to let her watch the television.

"Yeah, Grunkle Stan let us watch TV until midnight." Dipper added. Ford quickly turned to Stan when he heard this. He gave him a 'how could you' gaze to him. Stan felt uneasy when he saw this.

"W-what? Hey, don't look at me like that. I didn't know nothing. I mean, they're obviously talking about the 'future' me, no the 'now' me." Stan defended himself.

"But would you gave them the pleasure to watch the television until midnight?"

"Well, considering they're my grand-niece and grand-nephew, yeah." Stan acknowledged. "The Pines should stay up late for some mindless entertainment. Unlike you, Brainiac." Stan gave him a smirk while nudging him with his elbow.

The six-fingered man groaned in annoyance. "Well fine." Ford looked back to the little twins who were standing behind him. "Until midnight. When the clock strikes 12, the TV off, and you're all have to go to bed."

Mabel was so happy when she heard this, ran and gave him a hug. Ford was shocked when he felt sudden arm wrapped around his waist. He was so stunned that Stan chuckled at him. Ford didn't know what to do and look at his twin brother.

"She often do that, a lot." Stan said. Ford then turned his head to Dipper. The boy just shrugged his shoulder and gave him a smile. "Yeah, she's a hugger. Can't do anything about that." Mabel then released him from his hug and gave him a wide grin.

"Thanks Grunkle Ford." She said while pulling his brother's hand, leading him to the living room. Dipper yelped to the sudden pull. As they vanished, Stan happily sighed and turn to Ford. Ford was still stood froze there, still can't comprehend the hug. Stan swatted his head half-heartedly to snap him out of his trance.

"Oww, what?" Ford said while rubbing the back of his head.

"She just gave you a hug. What's so bad about that?"

"Well, it's nothing I guess…"

"Heh, you're acting weird, Ford." Stan walked pass by him to the kitchen table. He took a sit while sipped the remaining coffee left in his cup. Ford approached the table and pulled a chair to sit. He tapped his fingers on the table as he wanted to ease his nervousness. Stan noticed the tapping he made on the table.

"Something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong…" Ford paused. He was thinking the next sentences he wanted to say.

"…but?"

"It's just… It's hard to believe that those kids are our grand-niece and grand-nephew." He looked at the little twins who were sitting in the living room. Both of them were laughing at the show they were watching.

Stan smiled. "They're adorable. Besides, I kinda like them, especially Mabel. The day I found her, she was bawling her eyes out on the curb. I couldn't just left her there, so I might look after her for a while until he found her brother. Couldn't believe that she brought me straight to you." He said while sipping his coffee. Ford's chuckled when he heard that.

"That is kinda sappy coming from you."

"What? I can't be sentimental now?"

"Well, you're always grouchy and being a pain in the ass to everyone." He snickered when he said that. Stan grumbled as he finishes his coffee and stood up.

"Whatever you say brother. I need some sleep. Any extra room that I can use?" Stan asked while washing the cup at the sink.

"The last room I have is the attic. Tell you what, just use my bedroom."

"You mean sleeping with you in the same room?"

"Well, any alternatives you can suggest?"

Stan shrugged. "A couch?"

"Stan, I'm giving you the opportunity to sleep on a comfy bed and you chose to sleep on the couch."

"Where will you be sleeping if I use your bed?"

Ford stared tentatively at Stan for a moment. He can sleep in his lab for all he cared. It didn't bothered him as he was used to it. The chair wasn't that comfortable, but comfy enough for him to sleep.

"I'll just be at my lab." Ford said as he wiped his glasses with his handkerchief.

"Uuuuhh, where are you lab supposed to be?" Stan raised a skeptical brow.

"Basement."

"You have… a basement?"

"Yeah, what am I supposed to do with my college money if I can't spend it on some secret underground lab?" Ford retorted as he let out a light laugh.

"Ppffttt, yeah right. Whatever you say. We'll talk more soon." Stan said as he made a beeline towards the living room. "See ya tomorrow morning Sixer."

* * *

The TV didn't served any good channel except for some mindless Japanese game show, some more Turkish nonsense B-movie and a Chinese news. Dipper started to yawn for a few times, struggling to keep his eyes open. He looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall. It was 5 more minutes before 12. He decided that they should head upstairs to bed.

"Hey Mabel, I think we should go to sleep now." Dipper spoke sluggishly as he was sleepy and tired already. She didn't reply, instead what he got was Mabel's head fell onto Dipper's shoulder. She was already asleep and snoring. He let out a sighed. He switched off the TV and slowly moved Mabel's head away from his shoulder.

"Mabel, come on, wake up, let's go upstairs." Dipper gently shook her.

"Ummpphh… No… Let me sleep… forever…" Mabel mumbled as she brushed his hands away.

"Oh boy…" Dipper groaned. He knew what he needed to do. Piggyback her up to the room. So, with his last ounce of strength, he picked her up and placed her onto his back. Slowly, he walked out from the living room just to bump into Stan who was on his way to Ford's bedroom.

"Heading to bed kiddo?" Stan asked when he saw Mabel was being piggybacked by Dipper.

Dipper nodded. "Yeah, the TV's boring anyway, and Mabel's dead asleep."

Stan shrugged. "She had rough days. Living with me wasn't that… spacious or comfortable."

"Yeah, I understand." Dipper said as he struggled to hold Mabel on his back.

"Here, let me help you." Stan said as he lifted Mabel away from his back and clutched her onto his shoulder.

"Thanks. She's heavy though." Dipper replied as both of them made their way upstairs. "Where's Great-Uncle Ford?" the boy asked as he didn't see him in the kitchen.

"He wanted to stay in his lab. I don't even know this house got a basement."

"This house is full of things. You know that there's a trap door hidden in the living room?"

"Huh, that's interesting." Stan replied while both of them climbed the stairs. "I'll check it out tomorrow." He said as he rubbed his stubble chin.

As both of them reached the room, Stan slowly put Mabel down onto the sleeping bag and tucked her with the blanket. She then mumbled something that both of them couldn't understand.

"Goodnight sweetie." Stan said to her. Then, he turned to Dipper who was also getting ready to sleep. "Goodnight kiddo."

"Goodnight Grunkle Stan." Dipper yawned as he put aside his cap.

Stan watched both of them drifted into sleep before heading out from the room. Descending down the stairs, he decided to watch the TV as he couldn't sleep anyway. Stan took a seat on the couch and started to click the remote he's holding. He browsed various channel until he decided to watch some British Soap Opera called "The Duchess Approves". Half an hour into the movie, Stan was already asleep on the couch.

* * *

 **The next chapter would be a big one. We're nearly at the end of the story! And it's just only 9 chapter, wow... I oughta write more.**

 ***Mabel crashed into Forrester's room***

 **Mabel: Hey Forrester!**

 **Uurrgghhh, Mabel, I told you to knock before coming in.**

 **Mabel: No time for that!**

 ***Mabel ran into the kitchen***

 **What are you doing now?!**

 **Mabel: Mabel Juice!**

 **Haven't you got any other things to do? Where's you brother anyway?**

 **Mabel: He's on his way!**

 **Oh boy... Does that mean he would not be here?**

 **Mabel: Yup!**

 **Oh this is going to be a long night...**

 **KYV SVRJK NZKY FEV VPV ZJ EFK GCVRJVU KF JVV KYZJ VMVEK LEWFCUVU.**

 **SV NRIP, YV NZCC KRBV VOKIVDV DVRJLIV ZE DRBZEX JLIV JZO-WZEXVIJ ZDDZEVEK WRKV FTTLIJ.**


	10. Buy Some Time

**I have no specific reasons to say why I'm so late on updating this story.**

 **Mabel: Yeah you do.**

 **No I'm not.**

 **Stan: Look kid, just say it. No one's gonna judge you.**

 **Alright! *sigh* I'm having a writer's block. There, *glared at Stan and Mabel* happy?**

 **Stan: Gladly.**

 **Mabel: Enjoy reading the story!**

 **Thanks Mabel. :)**

* * *

It was nighttime. Everyone in the Shack was already asleep, except for Ford who was in his lab below. The attic was not as spacious as it will be, but the twins were having a good time getting their sleep, especially Dipper. He felt relieved when he was reunited with Mabel. It was good enough for him, even though they needed to go back to the future soon.

Dipper felt sudden poke on his left cheek. He swatted at it and mumbled wordless protest and burrowed deeper under his covers.

"Dipper."

"Go away Grunkle Ford, I need to sleep… You need to sleep too…" His voice muffled under his covers.

" _Dipper_ ," the voice pleaded and he felt his blanket being tugged down.

He groaned and opened his eyes. It was dark and nowhere near morning, and he saw Mabel was kneeling beside his sleeping bag, her eyes were widened and tearful. Immediately, he shot up to a sitting position. "Mabel, what's wrong?" he asked worryingly.

Mabel wiped her tears with her sleeves and scooted closer to Dipper. "I had a bad dream." She whispered, curling her knees into her chest. "It was horrible." Her voice trembled.

"Hey, it's okay, it's just a bad dream." Dipper sighed, but was relieved that nothing bad happened to her. "Wanna tell me?"

Mabel tried to keep her composure. "Remember the portal?" She asked. Dipper slowly nodded. "Well, after the whole… thingy happened… you were mad at me and Grunkle Stan. Grunkle Ford yelled at me… saying I made a foolish mistake by not pressing the button… and you didn't wanna… to talk to me anymore. You… _leave_ me after that…" she trailed off.

"Hey hey," Dipper interjected. "I'm not leaving you okay? I'm still here, look." Dipper pushed her chin up so that Mabel could see him. Dipper was crestfallen when he saw his sister's watery eyes and it started to fall when she blinked. "Hey, don't be like this." Dipper said as he brushed off the tears from her cheek. "You know I won't leave you, I'm always there for you, okay?"

She pursed her lips, shaking her head, then buried her face in her knees and started crying softly. "It's my fault..." her voice croaked. "It's my fault we ended up back in time. If I didn't messed with the tape measure, we would still be in our room, in our time."

"Mabel, it's not your fault." Dipper said, his voice was quivering and tears was stinging at the corner of his eyes. "I… I should have believed Stan, and you. And this whole back in time mess? I tugged the tape measure so hard from you and I accidentally pulled it. It was my screw up, okay?"

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was."

"Dipper, no."

"Dipper yes."

Despite her crying, Mabel snorted with laugher, making her brother smile a little bit.

"Are you still mad about the portal thingy?" Mabel slowly asked.

He smiled. "No Mabel, I can't be mad at you forever. You're my sister, you did the right thing, saving Ford's life, even it didn't turned out like Grunkle Stan had expected." He remembered how Stan extended his arms wide to hug Ford just to be punched in the face. "But the point is; if you're on the other side of that portal, I would have done the same to save you."

Mabel lifted her head when she heard that. "Even if it risked destroying the universe?"

"Even if it risked destroying the universe, sis." Dipper said, cracking a small but genuine smile. Suddenly he was attacked by her hug. It was so tight that Dipper started to wheeze.

"Thanks bro-bro, I would've done the same too." Mabel embraced her brother tightly.

"Yeah… Mabel… Lungs… Air…"

"Oh." She realized that Dipper was choking for air, immediately released him from her death hug. "Sorry Dipper." She sheepishly said.

"It's fine. Hey…" Dipper suddenly had a thought. "Since we're awake and all, how about TV?" He suggested.

Mabel beamed at him. "I'll make popcorns."

* * *

"Yeesh, I didn't even thought that Stan would enjoy that weird movie in his youth." Dipper murmured as he crept into the living room. He noticed that Stan had fell asleep on the couch with the TV blaring the British soap opera, "The Duchess Approves". Meanwhile, Mabel had gone into the kitchen to make some popcorns, or something they can ate while watching the TV.

Dipper was hesitant to wake the man up. He wanted Stan to join them, but at the same time, he saw Stan snoring loudly as if he was tired. Taking care of Mabel and surviving on the streets at the same time must have been tiresome. So, he decided not to wake him up. He was looking for the remote around the living room. It was a mess to tell the truth, but finally he saw it, by Stan's hand. He slowly pulled the remote, but unfortunately awoken Stan as he pulled the remote away from his hand.

"Whazitwhat?" The man mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes. He felt his hand was being tugged and looked around the room. He saw Dipper.

"What are you doing down here? It's…" He looked at time. "…4 in the morning. What are you up to, kid?" He asked.

"Well, me and Mabel can't sleep, so we thought watching the TV would… well, makes us sleepy again." He told Stan.

He gazed at Dipper for a while, then shrugged. "I don't see why not." He looked around. "Where's your sister?"

"She's in the kitchen, making some popcorns." Dipper said as he sat in front of the TV, clicking the remote to change the channel. Mabel then walked into the living room with a bowl of popcorn.

"Grunkle Stan, you're up! Well, since you're up, let's watch TV together." She said as she sat beside Dipper. "Anything good, DipDop?" She asked him.

"Nah, nothing fun. There's so much channels here. It's like, 600 something from around the world." After finally browsing through the channel, they finally settled with the classic version British detective show, 'The Curious Case of Ducktective'.

Stan looked at the twins who were sitting in front of him, watching the TV. He wondered if Ford and he could ever be in good terms like this again. Sure, today was a breeze, but he was wondering if tomorrow Ford decided to kick him out of the house. He grimaced at that thoughts.

"Grunkle Stan, are you alright?" Mabel's voice suddenly snapped him out of his wonderment. He looked at his future grand-niece, giving him a smile.

"I'm alright, pumpkin." He ruffled her hair gently as he went down from the couch and scooted between them. "So, Ducktective, ehh? What is this, some kind of a mystery show?" He asked the twins.

"Yeah, it's a detective show. And this is our favorite show Grunkle Stan." Dipper said as he shoved a handful popcorn into his mouth. "Ee ushed uu uachit evey niht." The boy said with his mouth full.

"Huh, it's that so? Well, I might as well practice to love this show now." Stan said as they continued to watch the TV. Mabel scooted closer to him, laying her head onto his side, while Dipper offered him some popcorn.

 _Well, this is nice, at least._ Stan mentally smiled.

* * *

Ford rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. How long has he been awake? He promised Dipper that he will get to sleep on time, but dismantling the portal wasn't an easy task. He regretted building it using the materials Fiddleford and he scavenged from that spaceship, but it is the only materials that can withstand the electromagnetic surge of that portal. Ford pushed himself away from the table and left the lab. He decided that he needed a fresh air, or maybe something from the kitchen. As he ascended in the elevator, he was wondering if Stan was comfortable enough sleeping in his bedroom. Again, he thought that Stan had been through enough, living on the streets, maybe his bed is comfortable for him.

As he exited the walkway leading to the house, he was stunned to see the scene in the living room. Stan was sleeping on the floor with the twins cuddling beside him. The TV was still on, screening some British soap opera. He looked at the time; it was already 8 in the morning. He stared at the window, the sun was already up and the snow was thick. He slowly entered the living room, trying to wake up Stan, but carefully not waking up the twins.

"Stanley," Ford whispered while shook lightly his shoulder. "Wake up." Stan grumbled and opened his eyes, seeing his twin brother shaking him.

"I'm up." He said as he carefully adjusted the sleeping twins on his left and right, tying not to awake them. He stood up and stretched himself a bit. "Yeah, what's up?"

"It's morning already. What are you doing with them?"

"Whazit look like Poindexter? We're watching TV." Stan said as both of them exited the living room, entering the kitchen. He noticed Ford gave him a glare. "Hey, don't look at me like that. Mabel got a nightmare and Dipper can't sleep, so their only logical solution is some morning entertainment; with me." He pointed his thumb to his chest proudly.

Ford sighed. "Lee, I thought I told them to go to sleep when midnight strikes. You can't let them stay awake all night-"

"Ford, I don't wanna say this, but… I will say it anyway." Stan stared at him from head to toe. "You look like shit."

The six-fingered man was taken aback.

"How long did you sleep last night?" Stan asked him as he pulled out a carton of milk from the fridge.

"I… I…" He stammered. "I didn't slept last night."

"Exactly." Stan acknowledged. "You should get some sleep." He placed his hand on Ford's shoulder. "C'mon bro, you can't keep up like this, you're human, not a robot." He said in a concern tone while handing him a glass of milk.

"Yeah, I know. But there's something I need to discuss about, with you."

"What about?"

"It's about my research."

Stan cocked an eyebrow. "Your research?" Stan shook his head. "Look Ford, if you wanna me help you in some hyper-scientific project, don't count me in. I didn't finished high school, remember?"

"No, no." Ford interjected. "I'd completed my research already, this is something more personal matter."

"Personal?" This made Stan worried. "Stanford, have you been into troubles with people?" He asked, concerned at his twin. He wouldn't expect that Ford would be in deep trouble with peoples that were dangerous.

Ford gazed at him, and shrugged. "Kind of. It's complicated. I'll show you-"

Before Ford could finish his sentence, the little twins walked into the kitchen. Mabel was rubbing his eyes and Dipper was scratching his back. They were both look hungry and tired.

"Good morning Grunkles." The twins greeted them.

"Good morning kids." Ford and Stan greeted back in unison.

Mabel sat at the table while Dipper went to the cabinet to get the glasses. After that, he went back to the table and joined them.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Dipper asked as he poured some milk into Mabel's glass.

"Oh, nothing much, just Fordsy here would like to show me his lab." Stan said. This made both the twins gazed at each other.

"Hehe, it's that so Grunkle Ford?" Mabel nervously asked.

Ford nodded. "Yeah, I'll show him after this. Wanna tag along?"

"Oh no no no." Stan shook his head, disapproving his brother's idea. "You're going to bed."

"But I-"

"No buts. We can do this after you get your rest." Stan sternly said. Dipper raised a brow when he heard this. He got a feeling that Ford didn't slept last night.

"Grunkle Ford, have you been staying all night?" the boy asked in concern. This made Ford guilty. He promised Dipper that he will get enough rest, but he just couldn't when the portal wasn't fully dismantled yet.

"Yeah…" Ford lowly said.

"My god I can't believe you." The boy snapped. "I told you that you need enough rest, or your paranoia will consume you! Don't you understand that?"

"I understand Dipper, but you know that port- thing, down in my lab is dangerous and I need to dismantle it as soon as I can!"

"Hey, hey, enough of these." Stan interjected. "Sixer, you'll march straight to bed after breakfast, or I'll make you." He glared at his twin brother. "And you," he pointing his finger at Dipper. "Try to shut up while I'm making breakfast."

"Yes sir." Both of them said in unison. Mabel snickered seeing them being frightened by Stan like that.

"Good." Stan continued to fire up the kitchen and began making eggs and bacons. While waiting, Dipper suggested to Mabel that maybe they should went exploring outside. Mabel beamed when she heard this and asked Stan if they can go outside.

"Yeah sure, but… you guys didn't exactly have any winter clothes." Stan said while flipping the bacon.

"Oh… right…" Mabel frowned disappointed. Ford noticed her sudden change of expression and thought of something.

"Hey Mabel, I got some spare clothes for you and your brother." Ford said, giving Mabel some hope for her. Mabel shot up her head when she heard this.

"Really? Do you have 'em?" Mabel asked in hopefulness.

"Yeah, I do. We'll go to my room and I'll find something for both of you."

"You have clothes for kids?" Stan said as he brought over eggs and bacons for them to the table.

"Yeah, I sorta accidentally packed it when I moved in to Gravity Falls from Piedmont." Ford scoop some piece of egg and eat it. "It's our clothes when we were kids."

Stan raised a brow. "And why would you have 'em?"

Ford just shrugged. "Dunno. It's kinda right thing to do."

Stan still wondering why his brother would bring their old clothes with him, but let it slide as he was hungry, and so does the kids.

* * *

"Alright, I might just have something for you guys." Ford said as he rummaged through his closet. He pulled out a box and placed it in front of Dipper and Mabel. Opening the box, he pulled out two sets of kid's size mittens, winter jacket and some long cargo pants. "Here, give it a try."

He handed them to Dipper and Mabel respectively. Mabel was the happiest when she received the light blue mittens with corresponding winter jacket. The little twins thanked Ford and dashed out of the room back into their bedroom. Ford smiled when he saw them, he remembered when Mum gave Stan and him those clothing. Stan was the one who was esthetic when he received that jacket.

"You gave Mabel my favorite jacket, and apparently with my mittens too." Stan interrupted his nostalgic thought on the doorway.

"Can't deny it though, your jacket and mittens do have some charms on you." Ford smirked. Stan chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. Now go to sleep." Stan said sternly.

Ford gave him a glare. "You know you're in my house right?"

"And I'm your brother, and remember, I'm older than you. So don't gave me that crap talk about whose house I'm in." Stan rolled his eyes.

Ford groaned, knowing he can't get out of this. He went for his bed and immediately plop on it. Stan still stood by the doorframe just to make sure he was really asleep. Minutes passed, he already heard Ford snoring. Stan smirked, knowing that Ford would usually fell asleep when he was too fatigued. He entered the room, went over by the bed and pulled the blanket over him, tucking him neatly. He left the room shortly after.

Exiting the room, he was met with the little twins who were already ready to head outside. He gazed at both of them and smiled. "You guys look great."

Mabel smiled. "Thanks grunkle Stan!" She said cheerfully. "But I don't have any hat though."

"Don't worry pumpkin, I gotcha covered." Stan told her, leading both of them into the living room. Entering the living room, he went over to his duffel bag and zipped it open. He took out a blue winter hat with red stripes on it and gave it to Mabel.

"This is all I got. Take it, it suits you." Stan said. Mabel squealed with joyfulness when she got that hat.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Mabel cheered as she went over to Stan and hugged him around his waist.

Stan ruffled her hair a little bit before pulling her away gently. "You're welcome kid. Now go out there and have fun."

Both of them immediately ran for the door and went outside. Stan then sat on the couch and turned on the TV. He shifted a little bit, feeling uncomfortable. _Ford should've bought a recliner or somethin'._ Stan thought to himself.

* * *

Dipper and Mabel were walking through the forest, enjoying the scenic view. It's not like they haven't experience the snow in their life, but Mabel was fond of taking a scoop of snow and lick it. Dipper immediately slapped her hand before her tongue can touched the snow on her hand.

"Mabel, the snow is not clean." Dipper told her.

"Pfftt, come on Dipper, you're being weird again. Snow isn't that bad." Mabel scoffed.

"The last time you did that, you ended up sick for 3 days." Dipper said. He still remembered how Mabel ate a handful of snow from the ground when they were 10 and Mabel had gotten a bad stomachache and had to stay at home for 3 consecutive days.

"Yeah, yeah." Mabel brushed it off. "Hey look! A butterfly." Mabel immediately ran towards the butterfly that was sitting on the snowy leaf. Dipper suddenly had an idea.

"Hey Mabel," Dipper called her out, scooping a ball of snow from the ground. "I wanna show you something."

Mabel turned around, unsuspectingly. "Yeah bro? What is i-" Before she could finish her sentence, her face was hit by a snowball, making her fall down to the ground.

Dipper laughed at her, but died down when she didn't get up. "Oh no," Dipper murmured to himself worryingly. He ran towards her sister if she was okay. "Mabel! Oh man, oh man. I'm so sorry for not telling you I'm gonna throw a snowball at you."

But before he could reached her, Mabel suddenly jolted up and threw a large snowball at him, hitting his face. Mabel laughed when he yelped and slipped down to the snowy ground.

"That's what you get for sneak-attack me!" Mabel sneakered as she pulled Dipper back on his feet. Dipper grumbled, but nonetheless, grateful that she was okay.

He playfully shoved her shoulder. "Don't ever scared me like that again."

Mabel snorted. "Like I never scared you when I was lost all the way in Philadelphia."

Dipper grimaced remembering that. She had lost her sister and nowhere to be found around him. He almost tempted into Bill's trick once again, but held it back as he remembered the last time he made a deal with Bill, he spent two weeks in the Shack because of his extreme fatigued body and hurting everywhere.

"Hey, cheer up broseph. I'm here right? Bwop." Mabel poked his nose, making Dipper flinched for a second, later smiled.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for making you stranded all the way there." Dipper apologized. But, Mabel waved her hand.

"Hey, I said don't worry right? Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Like you said, both of us were screw-up now." Mabel said. "Now, what can we do in this kind of weather?" She turned around and inspect the surroundings.

"I dunno, we're far off from the Shack already. I think we might wanna go back. It's freezing out here." Dipper said. Mabel agreed with him. Both of them started to walk back to the Shack. Along the way, they noticed that the surroundings started washing out to black and white. Dipper pulled Mabel closer to her, knowing what's coming.

"Dipper, what's happening?" Mabel asked, worryingly.

"Bill." Dipper said plainly.

A flash of blue light appeared before them, blinding both of them momentarily. Bill appeared in front of them and started to stretch for a while.

"PINETREE AND SHOOTING STAR." Bill started. "WHAT A SURPRISE." He said sarcastically.

"What do you want, Bill?" Dipper asked him, pulling Mabel behind him protectively.

"REMEMBER I TOLD YOU, THE LONGER YOU STAY HERE, THE MORE YOU'RE CHANGING THE FUTURE?" Bill asked him, making Mabel gave out a curious eyes upon Dipper.

"Dipper, don't tell me you'd dealt with him again." Mabel whispered to him.

"No. I'm not." He whispered back, turning back to Bill. "Yeah, you told me that. We're leaving soon."

Bill rolled his eye. "I'M AFRAID IT'S TOO LATE PINETREE. FORDSY AND HIS BROTHER ARE NOW IN GOOD TERMS, AND THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANT!" Bill yelled in his deep voice.

"I'm not doing anything for you Bill, we're not even made a deal!" Dipper retorted.

Bill glared at the twins for a while. The boy was right. They haven't made any deal, so this was stupid. "FINE. SINCE WE HAVEN'T MADE A DEAL, I GUESS I CAN PROCEED WITH PLAN B."

Dipper's raised a brow. "What plan B?"

Bill laughed. "IF I TOLD YOU, IT WOULDN'T BE A SURPRISED ISN'T IT?" He crackled as he flashed into the blue light, disappearing into thin air. Dipper rubbed his eyes, trying to focus back on the surroundings. Everything was back to normal. But he jolted a little bit when Mabel shook his body from behind.

"Dipper, what did that pointy jerk told you?" Mabel asked in concern and worry.

Dipper let out a heavy sighed. "Before you came, Bill met me. He told me he can ensure your safety wherever you were. But I refused, and he told me that… If we stayed here any longer, we would change the course of the timeline more." Dipper then rubbed his chin, thinking of something. "He just said Plan B…"

"What's Plan B?" Mabel asked.

"I don't know." He said nonchalantly, trying to piece everything together. "Hey, Mabel, Stan said that Ford would like to show him his lab today right?"

Mabel nodded.

"And where's Grunkle Ford?"

"He's sleeping, the last time I saw him before we left."

Dipper's eyes widened. _Oh no._

"Mabel," He started to pulled Mabel's hand and run. "We need to back to the Shack."

"Why?" Mabel asked, trying to keep it up with his brother.

"Bill's gonna mess with Ford's head and he might probably possessed him!" Dipper told him. He remembered that Ford had told him that Bill was able to enter his body whenever he wished. The deal wasn't off yet, as far as he knew. So he needed to get back to the Shack as fast as he can.

"Dipper slow down! I can't keep up with you." Mabel's voice rang out from behind. Dipper didn't noticed this as he slowed down a little bit, giving Mabel time for her to catch up. Suddenly he bumped into something, and Mabel bumped onto Dipper's back. Both of them fell down.

"Urrgghh…" Mabel grunted. "What hit us?"

Dipper shook his head and looked for the thing that he had bumped into. It was not a tree, not a log, or even an animal. It was human, and apparently this human was too familiar to him.

"Oh, time-dang it!" A male squeaky voice came out from the figure. Dipper immediately noticed this and backed up to her sister. "Watch where you're going!" He said as he rose up from the ground. The man was wearing grey jumpsuit, goggles and have a curvy hair in the middle of his bald head.

Mabel gasped as he recognized the man. "BlarBlar?"

"It's Blendin." Dipper corrected her.

Blendin looked at two figures that were still on the ground. "You guys!?" He exclaimed. "What the time-heck are you guys doing here?"

Dipper forced out a chuckle while standing back up. "It's kinda long story." He said as he helped Mabel up. "So… what are you doing here?"

"I received a time-anomaly in this year, and I didn't expect that time-anomaly are caused by you guys!" Blendin said frantically. "Dipper, what's the one thing I tell you not to do when I gave you that time travel device?" He asked the boy.

"Making time jump…" Dipper rubbed the back of his neck.

"And what the heck-a-doodle did you do?"

"Making time jump…" Now Dipper felt guilt as he promised Blendin not to do that.

"Look, Blendin." Mabel interjected. "We're stuck here by accident, not by our will. And we're kinda in a rush now. So, you'll have to excuse us." Mabel said as he pulled Dipper by his arm away back to the Shack.

"No!" Blendin blocked their path. "You guys are going back to 2012 and I won't have you guys making me lose my job again!"

Dipper sighed. "Look dude, I'm sorry that we made this kind of trouble again, but we're going to fix this, and we need to do it now. Please." Dipper pleaded.

Blendin stared at him for a while before giving in. "Alright, both of you have exactly 24 hours before Lolph and Dungren came. Till that, I can hold them down for a while. Just do it fast and get out from this time!" Blendin instructed. The twins nodded and turned to run back to the Shack.

"Oh man, I hope I didn't screwed up my job again." Blendin tinkered with his time-watch and disappeared.

* * *

Ford woke up from his slumber, only to realize that his bed was floating in space. He looked around and knew what was happening. Then he was startled by a voice behind him.

"HEYYAAA SIXER!" Bill surprised him. Ford immediately backed away to the other side of the bed.

"What do you want, Cipher?" Ford scowled.

"DIDN'T YOU MISS ME? OH YOU DIDN'T. LET SEE, WHAT DO I WANT. HOW ABOUT YOU START THAT PORTAL BACK?" Bill floated around him.

"You don't get it don't you? I shut down the portal already! You can't do anything about it anymore." Ford exclaimed.

Bill scoffed. "YOU THINK JUST BECAUSE I DIDN'T COME INTO YOUR DREAM FOR A FEW DAYS, I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING? YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING. I CAN SEE EVERYTHING!" Bill howled. "OHH AND I SEE YOU HAVE A GUESTS IN THE SHACK. THOSE LITTLE TWINS AND YOUR USELESS BROTHER." Bill flicked his finger and a vision showed around Ford a picture of Stan, Dipper and Mabel.

"You stay away from them Bill! They got nothing to do with this." Ford warned him.

"HEH, RIGHT. NOW, ARE WE GONNA DO THIS THE EASY WAY, OR THE HARD WAY?" Bill asked him.

"I told you before, and I'll tell you now, you tricked me, you made my partner go crazy and you lied to me!" Ford said as the matter-in-fact.

Bill rolled his eyes. "WELL, I GUESS THE HARD WAY IT IS."

Ford froze for a while. "Wait, what hard wa-"

Suddenly Bill flew over him and went inside his body. Ford shrieked in pain when he felt his mind was going blank. Bill's laughter was all he heard then darkness gloom over his vision.

* * *

Stan was leaning on the couch in the living room, watching TV when he heard his brother screamed in pain. He immediately ran upstairs to check on Ford. Reaching his bedroom, he noticed that the door was locked and it won't budged.

"Stanford?" Stan called him out, knocking on the door. "Hey, sixer, you alright in there?" His knocking went faster, but still no answer. He then decided to crash through the door when his twin wasn't answering.

Before he could do that, Ford opened the door. A smile crept on his lips. "Whatzup, Stanley?"

"Jeez, I thought something happened to you. Are you alright?" Stan asked him, examining Ford.

Ford waved it off. "I'm fine. Hey! Let's go downstairs to the lab. I wanna show you the thing I've been working on." Ford said as he passed by Stan.

"Uuuhhh, Stanford? Are you sure you're okay?" Stan asked again, he was now suspicious of his sudden weird attitude.

"I'm fine Fez, just follow me!" Ford said without looking back. Stan shrugged and went on to follow him downstairs to the basement lab.

* * *

 **Hey look, my writing's suddenly went bad. Jeez, I really do need a beta. Welp, there's nothing bad if I don't have any beta! I'm making progress just fine.**

 **Ford: You do realize that you're talking to a cat, right?**

 **Shut up! At least I have someone to talk to.**

 **Ford: *chuckle* Yeah you do.**

 **Just get out from my room!**

 ***Mabel barge into Forrester's room with Dipper and Stan in tow***

 **Mabel: We're back!**

 **Oh boy...**

 **FTQ QZP UE ZQMD,**

 **FTQ TUEFADK IUXX DQBQMF UFEQXR,**

 **ZQUFTQD BUZQFDQQ ZAD ETAAFUZS EFMD OMZ EFAB UF,**

 **FTQ EFMZE IUXX NQ ETMFFQDQP MSMUZ.**


End file.
